No Use Fighting
by twiXlite
Summary: Charlie Swan has had enough of his hellion daughter's behaviour. Calling on Edward Masen's help, will Bella be able to fight against the pull she has to him. And what secrets does Edward have? Is all as it seems with Bella's new guard? AU AH
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: Don't own squat :(**_

_**This is an idea I've had floating around in my head for a while now. Mind you, it probably won't be updated very often, at least not until Eternally Damned is finished.**_

_**Just wanted to see what the general reaction to it is.**_

_**Let me know.**_

_**Bella**_

"Wow, Dad," I smirked as I walked down the stairs as Alec, the latest in a long line of 'body guards' practically ran out of the door, unable to handle the 'problematic child' of Police Commissioner Charles Swan. " Where do you keep finding these losers? Who would have thought that a former SWAT officer would get bested by a girl?" I could help but giggle at the thought. But then again, Alec had been easy to wind up.

"Bella." He turned around as we heard a car engine start up and the crunching of gravel as Alec pulled away from the house. "Why do you keep doing this? Why don't you just get along with them?"

It was kind of sad watching him from where I was stood. Here he was, a Police Commissioner, who had the respect of practically every law-abiding citizen in the city, practically broken due to his seventeen year old daughter. Did I feel bad? Yeah, I did. Was I going to stop? No, I was having way too much fun. Call me a bitch, but hey, I needed some way of letting my frustrations out.

He had his work. I had my friends. Same diff.

"Because I don't need a babysitter." I snapped back, crossing my arms across my chest as I stood on the bottom step of the stairs.

"For the last time, Bella, you know why I hire these men." His terse and anxious voice had lowered to practically a growl. "You need someone to watch you when I can't."

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes, leaning on the banister and letting out a breath.

We had this little argument each and every time one of the lameasses my dad hired ran out of the door unable to put up with what I threw at them. My friends had bets on how long they would all last.

None of them lasted very long.

My friends said that I had a talent for ridding myself of the annoying little men, but I just knew what buttons to push with each of them. None of them were _that_ hard to figure out. Each man had a weakness. You just had to know how to find it.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes and grabbing my coat. "I'm going out."

"Isabella!" He snapped and I turned to look at him, still sliding my coat onto my shoulders. "You will stay in this house tonight. I don't want you going out!"

"Of course you don't." I snapped back at him. Two could play at this game. "You want to keep me all nice and locked away so that 'no one can hurt me'. It doesn't work like that, _Charlie_." I sneered his name, knowing that he hated it when I addressed him by it. "I want to have a life and see my friends and neither you or your little bozos are going to stop me from doing that. Bye!"

With that, I yanked the door open and stormed out, grabbing my phone out of my jeans pocket along with my car keys.

I hit the call button and held the phone to my ear as I climbed into my car, turning on the engine.

"_Yello!"_ A chirpy voice on the other end of the line called out in response.

"Jess?" I asked, wondering if it was Jess or if someone had picked up her phone again and decided to answer it for her. That had happened many times. Once or twice I had answered it for her, to find that it was her parents on the other end. Either they were incredibly inept parents or they just played dumb to their daughters' antics while they were away. Which, thankfully for me, was a fucking lot.

Jess's house was my safe haven when I couldn't stand being at home anymore. Ever since my mom died, it was like there was a black cloud hanging constantly over the building affecting everyone inside. My dad hadn't gotten over it and I knew he never would. I, personally, knew that I wasn't really coping with it either, but hey, my way of dealing was a lot more fun than Charlie's way.

His way included throwing himself into work and moping about the house wishing she was still alive.

My way included my friends, a lot of booze and a lot of weed.

Whose do you think makes you feel better?

I thought so.

"This is she?" She giggled and I heard some people laughing in the background and a round of 'oh's carry over the phone as someone obviously did something worthy of a whole lot of piss taking at school on Monday. "What can I be doing for you's, Bells?"

"How much have you had?" I laughed, sticking my phone on speaker and setting it in the little holder I had. It wouldn't do for the Police Commissioners daughter to be pulled over for talking on the phone whilst driving now, would it? Again?

"Not that much, really." I could practically see her brow furrowing in thought as she tried to remember how much she had had to drink and smoke already and I laughed again.

"Okay, Jess, don't hurt yourself." I chuckled, shaking my head as I made my way towards her house. "Liquid and smokes are flowing, yeah?"

"Do you doubt?"

"Not a chance." I grinned, pulling up in front of her house where a couple of other cars were parked. I recognised Tyler and Mike's cars, along with Lauren's, Tanya's and James's. They had probably brought friends with them, as everyone did when Jess parents weren't around. Hers was the party house. "Open the door, bitch. I'm here."

I hung up the phone, slipping it into my pocket as I climbed out of the car, locking it and slipping my keys into my front pocket, not wanting to lose them in there. That's happened before and I will never forget the aftermath from Charlie. I still hadn't found the keys, but he'd made me get a whole new car, so it didn't really make much of a difference.

The door swung open as I walked up the path, revealing a completely fucked Jess. She grinned and waved at me before leaning a little too far over and bashing into the doorframe. I couldn't help but laugh at her. She wouldn't remember in the morning and would spend all day wondering where the hell she got the new bruise from. Much like I did each morning after a complete 'fuck-up night' as we called them.

As you can guess, it was a night where we got drunk and we got high.

Best way to ease out your stresses in my opinion.

"Hey, Bella!" She practically screamed even though I was standing about a foot away from her. With Jess, all inhibitions were dropped when the ale started flowing. Or when anything with a percentage on the side started flowing really. She would drink anything. She reached out and threw an arm around my shoulders, pulling me into the house and nearly collapsing on the stairs as we made our way into her living room which was clouded in smoke and where everyone was sitting. "Hey, look everyone! Bella's here!"

There was a round of 'wahay's' from people as they held up their drinks, probably not even knowing who the hell I was. There were more people here tonight than there usually were, turning it into a party rather than the usual gathering.

Oh well, more fun to be had.

"Hey, Bells." Mike turned to grin at me as I sat down, taking the joint that was being passed around away from him and taking a long drag, sighing as I released the smoke into the air. "Better?"

"Much." I closed my eyes and rested my head on the back of the sofa, taking another drag, wanting the drug to take effect as quickly as possible. I needed to feel away from what the hell was going on in my life at the moment.

"So, what's brought this on?" James asked, gesturing towards where I was sitting and I knew that he knew I had been stressing.

James had been one of my best friends since kindergarten. We were always getting each other into trouble and running away before we could get caught as well. Others might say, they help you get into trouble, but they help you get out again. With us? Nah. Who needed help getting out of trouble?

Me? I was Charlie's daughter, so no one would have believed it possible for me to do such things, when really most of the shit we got into was my idea. No one ever believed us when we said that, but hey, such is my life.

James on the other hand had everything working for him. He was intelligent, funny, charismatic and he was gorgeous. I bet you're wondering why I'm not with him, yes? Well, here's the thing. James would only like me if I started producing testosterone and grew a dick. Yes, unfortunately, ladies of Seattle, James Alexander Brookes, is gay.

But somehow, he's always able to talk himself out of absolutely _anything_.

The only one he couldn't pull anything with was Charlie. He knew him too well and knew when he was bullshitting.

"What do you think?" I raised an eyebrow at him and he nodded in understanding.

"Those douches your dad keeps hiring?" He enquired, taking a swig of the beer he was drinking.

"Yeah." I sighed, taking another puff of the joint and passing it to the person next to me. I didn't even know his name, but what the hell.

"How many has it been?" Tanya asked, sitting on the arm of the sofa next to James, who pulled her into his lap. She giggled and righted herself, flushing a little at the fact her extremely short skirt had ridden up several inches nearly flashing everyone. She smacked James on the chest with the back of her hand and he feigned hurt, making all of us laugh.

"Seventeen." I grinned, taking the bottle that Mike passed me, along with the bottle opener. All of them knew my rule of not taking a drink unless I'd seen it been poured in front of me or it had the top still on it. I popped the top of, flicking it at James, who head butted it away from him, making all of us laugh again. "But who's counting?"

"You've got some impressive record there, Bells." Tyler whistled, sitting down next to James and grinning at me.

"Tell me about it." I rolled my eyes wishing that my dad would just wise up and figure out that none of the assholes he hires are going to stop me from doing what I want to.

Seventeen have tried.

Seventeen have failed.

How many more was it going to take for him to get the message and just leave me alone?

Nothing was going to happen to me. Just because something happened to happen to my mom, doesn't mean that history is going to repeat itself and screw me over.

I was going to be fine.

Or at least, that's what my slowly frazzled brain was telling me.

"So, Bells." I registered Tanya sitting down next to me, handing me another drink, which I popped open, flinging the top at James again. He looked at me, his eyes narrowed while I stared blankly back. He didn't fall for it. He never did.

Bastard.

"What can I do for you, Tanya?" I asked, watching James out of the corner of my eye. I knew he would get me back for the bottle top incident. I just didn't know when.

"I was wondering . . . do you know if Demetri is seeing anyone?" She asked, her gaze flicking towards the kitchen where I knew a couple of the guys from school to be.

I slyly turned my head to look at the object of her desire and I knew what I would find. He was standing there, a little way away from everyone else, but still close enough to be involved in the conversation, adding in little quips and snippets every now and again, but not really becoming too involved with the conversation happening in front of him, if that makes any sense.

He was tall and blond, slightly tanned, as his Spanish heritage would indicate, standing there swigging on his beer nonchalantly as the rest of the crowd in the house moved around him. He seemed completely unfazed by the stumbling teenagers around him. I could see why Tanya liked him.

"I don't know." I turned back to face her, really not knowing if he was or not. Normally, I knew these things, but I couldn't remember if I'd seen him with anyone. "The best way to find out is to ask."

"I did." She grinned at me and I rolled my eyes at her. She may look like the stereotypical blonde, but Tanya was not stupid.

At five foot eight, she was tall, slender and blonde. She was beautiful with her strawberry blonde curls and her bright blue eyes, giving away nothing but innocence. But let me tell you, when she wants something or someone, she's anything but innocent. The girl is a fireball. That being said, she was one of my best friends, always there for me when I needed her after a rough day with whatever douche Charlie had roped into trying to babysit me. She'd even helped get rid of a couple of them. Ah, good times.

"Why don't you go ask him?" I asked her and she turned away from me, her cheeks going slightly red. Wow. She must really like him if she's blushing. "Look, the worst that'll happen is he'll be seeing someone. Though why he would stay with someone when he could have you is beyond me."

"You think?" She asked, biting down on her bottom lip. She may be beautiful, but Tanya could also be very shy at times. For me, at least, it was cute to see.

"Girl, if I was that way, I'd totally make you mine." I grinned at her and she giggled, finishing her drink and taking a deep breath, standing up. I gave her a thumbs up as she walked around the sofa and into the kitchen.

There was a knocking at the door and Jess looked around, wondering who was missing. "Anyone expecting someone?" There was a scattering of 'no' and 'not me' and some people shaking heads. She shrugged and went back to her conversation just before the knocking started again.

"I'll get it." Tyler stood up, handing James his beer before making his way towards the front door. That was probably a good idea, considering Jess was in no condition to stand up at all. "Yeah?" I saw Tyler lean against the doorframe as he answered the door, clearly not recognising who was standing there. If he had they would already be sat down with a beer in their hands at this point.

"I'm here for Isabella." A calm, cool voice answered him and I tensed. _What the hell_?

"Excuse me?" Tyler straightened up slightly, still leaning on the doorframe and I realised that he was blocking the entrance to the house, making it so that the stranger couldn't get in.

"You heard me. The music from inside doesn't permeate through to this part of the house, and unless your hearing is that detrimental I know for a fact, that you heard me." _Whoa, this guy knew some big words. Not that I could really say anything about that considering the state of my brain at the moment. _"Now, I'm telling you again. I'm here for Isabella Swan."

"Does she know you?" Tyler asked, standing up straighter, probably trying to intimidate the guy. By this point, pretty much the whole place had gone quiet, listening to what was happening at the front door.

"Oh, we're about to get very well acquainted." _Like Hell I am!_

"You think I'm letting her go somewhere with someone I don't know." Tyler laughed, sounding insane at the moment. "You're mad, dude!"

"You have two options here." The man at the door, though I still couldn't see him because Tyler was in the way. "Either you send her out here and this all ends peacefully or I will be going in there and getting her myself. And before you think you could stop me, don't even try it, kid. Pick your battles. And not ones that you'll lose. Now, for the last time before the police are contacted and each and everyone one of you inside has to explain to their parents why they're being contacted by the police, send Isabella out."

There was no mistaking the threat in his tone and all of us knew that, even though none of us had a clue who he was, he was not joking.

"It's okay, Tyler." I stood up, albeit, somewhat shakily.

"No, it's not, Bells." He turned around and warned me to stay back, with his eyes. "This guys saying about the police, well, if he comes in here, we can have him arrested for trespassing, right?"

"I don't know." Just because my dad's a cop, doesn't mean I know.

"Well, we can call the cops and have him done." Tyler sounded and looked pleased with himself until a low throaty chuckle that made my girly bits tingle sounded through the air.

"Now, that's amusing, considering it was Charlie Swan that asked me to come and pick her up from wherever she was." I could hear the amusement in this guys voice.

If Charlie had sent him, that meant my new babysitter had been called and was here to pick me up. Well, I was going to tell him right now what he could do with what Charlie wanted.

I walked up behind Tyler, edging round him to get a look at the next loser that Charlie thought could control me. I froze.

Standing in front of me was not what I had expected.

I had expected someone in either their thirties or forties, like all the others had been. But this guy. He had to have been in his twenties. Early twenties, most probably. His pale skin stood out against the darkness behind him, illuminated by his dark clothing. His hair, what I could see of it anyway was a browny colour, maybe with a little red in it, I don't know. I couldn't see properly. His jaw and cheekbones were sharp, angular, making it seem as though he belonged in a more refined time than this one.

But it was his eyes that held me and made me want to look away at the same time.

They weren't like any eyes had ever seen before. Not like your standard brown, blue, green, hazel or anything like that.

They were _gold_.

Freaky right?

I could tell that this guy knew exactly who I was and what I was like. Something told me that I had met my match with the new employee of Charlie's.

"Oh, shit." I practically mouthed, hiding behind Tyler.

He smirked as though he had heard me, which was practically impossible because I hadn't made any noise and had my hands in front of my mouth, meaning he couldn't see what I was saying either, even if he had learned to lip read. Which made his next words even more worrying.

"Oh shit is right, Isabella."

_Fuck!_

_**Charlie**_

After Bella left the house I knew that I couldn't deal with this anymore. She was completely out of control.

She had caused seventeen body guards – highly trained and recommended guards – to quit in the last six months. How on earth was I supposed to keep functioning when she was behaving like this all the time? I couldn't do it.

I knew that I had to put a stop to this behaviour.

Tonight.

So I took my phone out of my pocket and dialled the one number I had kept in there in case of a situation like this.

"_Masen_." The low male voice on the other end replied softly but sternly, alerting the one calling that this was not someone to mess around.

"Am I speaking to Edward Masen?" I asked, slightly nervous. I had heard some things about this guy and I didn't know whether or not they were true. Even if they were, I knew that he was the only one that would be able to tame Bella.

"_Who's asking for him?"_ The voice was clipped, as though waiting for the perfect opportunity to tell me to go to hell and hang up.

"This is Police Commissioner Swan." I tried my best to sound authoritative, yet I had a feeling it fell flat. If this was Edward Masen I was talking to, then there was no chance of intimidation. Or from what I'd heard anyway.

"_Ah, Commissioner Swan."_ There was a smug undertone to the voice, as though they knew why I was calling. _"I was wondering when you would get in touch."_ Okay, so maybe they did know why I was calling.

"I can confirm that I am talking to Edward Masen, yes?" I asked, not wanting to mess around here.

"_You can, indeed."_

_Thank God._ "I'm not even going to bother telling you why I'm calling, because it seems you already know."

"_You need my help in controlling your daughter_." Alright, smug fucker.

"Are you willing to help?" I asked, managing to keep the pleading out of my tone as I waited for an answer.

"_I'll be there in an hour."_

With that he hung up.

I closed the phone, wondering what the hell had just happened here. It seemed like what was said about Edward Masen was true. He really was the best. No one knew where he had come from or what he had been doing before, but he was the one people wanted when they needed a job done urgently. No one I knew had used him before, thank god. I've heard that espionage was the main reason people used him.

From what I knew, he had never worked for the military or and United States forces. He had never worked for a police outfit and seemed to be muscle and brains for hire.

Apparently, this guy could give Stephen Hawking a run for his money with his intelligence.

I just hoped I'd made the right decision in contacting him.

I wanted to keep Bella _out_ of the trouble and danger she was intent on getting herself into. Hopefully, this guy would be enough.

Sure enough, an hour later, the buzzer for the intercom at the front gate buzzed, and I answered Howard's call.

"It's alright." I sighed into the machine on the wall. "Let him in."

I watched through the window as the gates opened and a sleek Lamborghini Estoque made its way up the driveway. I let out a low whistle. I knew that this guy went for a lot of money, but I never really appreciated how much.

I opened the door as he climbed out of the car and I got a glimpse of Edward Masen for the first time in my life.

He was intimidating, just as I knew he would be. He was the same height as me, but I had the feeling that that wouldn't matter in a fight between us. He would have the upper hand in a matter of seconds, so I didn't want to try. Normally, a guy like this would be one I was looking for, a perp for me, someone to lock away, but I couldn't find any trace of a criminal record. The guy didn't even have a speeding ticket, which I found amazing, considering his vehicle.

"She's not here." He stated as he made his way towards me, his eyes taking in the house in front of him.

"Um . . . no." I shook my head and he chuckled.

"Let me guess. Out with her friends, doing God knows what, God knows where." It wasn't a guess. It was fact and I nodded. "I can see what it's doing to you. You must be at a complete loss if you're contacting _me_." He didn't sound surprised at the fact he had been called. Just the opposite actually. It was unnerving to say the least.

"Yes." I nodded, indicating for him to come in and he stepped over the threshold. Barely. "If you're willing to take on this job, I'll pay you whatever you want." He nodded, taking in what he could see of the downstairs. He seemed to be analysing everything with each look. Was that what he was doing? "When can you start?"

He looked at me, smirking slightly. "I already have." With that, he disappeared out of the door and was walking towards his car. "I'll have Bella back in under an hour." He was confident as he slid into his car and made his way down the driveway again. Howard knew to let him back in.

I knew then and there that this was the one that would put a stop to Bella's ways. He would be the one that could keep her under control.

Had I done the right thing by pressing that call button on his number?

Yes, I bloody well had.

_**What do you think?**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Twilight. I wish I did, though.**_

_**A couple of you have mentioned that this story is similar to one called Code of Conduct written by MandyLeigh78. I have already contacted her and made her aware of the similarities in the first chapter or so, but just to let you know, this is a completely different story. I love Code of Conduct and urge everyone to read it.**_

_**So this story will stay as is unless MandyLeigh78 reads something she feels is too similar to hers, at which point it will be changed.**_

_**Another question that keeps popping up is 'Is Edward a vampire?'**_

_**Answer: no.**_

_**This is an all human story. I know in the first chapter he has golden eyes and sensitive hearing, but his story will be coming out as we progress into the story.**_

_**On with Chapter 2.**_

_**Edward**_

I wasn't surprised upon receiving the phone call from Commissioner Swan. In all honesty, I had been expecting his call a lot sooner than this.

Who knew that one girl could cause this much mayhem amongst adults?

Well, that was about to change.

Right now.

As I stood there in front of her friends house, she shrank back, hiding behind her friend who thought he would be a cocky son of a bitch and try to stand up to me. He puffed his chest out, smirking down at me as Isabella moved behind him, clearly afraid of me. Good.

She could still see me from where she was and I hadn't taken my eyes off of her since she appeared. I could easily see that she was intrigued by the colour of my eyes. They were an unnatural colour. Not the colour I was born with, but now's not the time for that story.

Keeping my eyes on her, I nodded my head backwards, indicating that she should come out of the house and get into the car without making a scene. She bit her lip and dashed back inside the house. I concentrated on the sound of her footsteps and knew that she hadn't gone further inside than she had travelled upon coming out. I drowned out the sounds of the music and general chatter happening in the house in front of me, focusing on Isabella's voice as she collected her things.

"Where are you going?" That was the voice I had heard through the door upon knocking the first time. It was female, slurred, obviously drunk and not worth my time.

"It seems my dad has upped the ante when it comes to my babysitters." Isabella replied, sounding frustrated. I couldn't help but smirk at her remark. _Oh, yes. The ante has been upped and it's way out of your range, little girl._ "Number eighteen, here we go."

"How long do you reckon he'll last?" This voice was male, joking, slightly slurred which indicted drinking and from the smells coming from the inside of the house, illegal substances at the same time. Kid'll be lucky if he makes it home tonight.

"Don't know." Isabella sounded as though she was pondering the length of my stay as her body guard. I'm looking forward to her trying to get rid of me. "Look, I gotta go. I don't think he likes to be kept waiting."

"Playing the good girl, are we, Bells?" The same male voice laughed and I heard Isabella join in as she approached the door, her steps slower which meant she was still engaging in the conversation with her friends. "Catch him off guard?"

"Don't I always?" She laughed back before her footfalls became more frequent and she appeared in the doorway in front of me, much to the disapproval of her friend. "See you on Monday, Tyler."

"See ya." He replied, watching as I walked alongside Isabella to my car.

She stopped in her tracks as I walked over to it and I couldn't fight the eye roll that threatened. "What's the matter now?"

"Apart from the fact I've been practically kidnapped from my friends by someone I don't know?" She replied sarcastically and I turned to see her standing there with her coat draped over one arm, both of which crossed were over her chest. She didn't look happy, but I really didn't care.

"Over exaggerate much?" I replied, leaning on the car and she scoffed at me. "Get in the car."

"This is seriously your car?" She pointed at it, walking forward a couple of steps as I unlocked it.

"Makes the little beepy noise when I press the button, so what do you think?" She glared at my comment. Good. I didn't want her to think that there was going to be any kind of camaraderie happening here. "Get. In." She still didn't move any further towards the car and I knew that I was going to have to teach this girl to do as she was told. Lesson One. Starting now. "Either you get in the car yourself, or I will put you in it." That worked. I knew that my tone coupled with the pointed stare I was giving her scared her a little seeing as how I could hear her heartbeat increase tempo. She climbed in the car without wasting another second, closing the door and strapping herself in.

"What about my truck?" She asked, turning to face me as I climbed into the car, not bothering with a seat belt.

"What about it?" I really couldn't give a damn about that hunk of junk. It could stay here and rot.

"Are we just going to leave it here?" Her eyes grew wide as I started the engine, pulling out of the driveway.

"Looks like it." I smirked as she huffed angrily and sat back in her seat, glaring at nothing outside the window.

The car ride back to the Swans' house was silent and I could feel the anger rolling off of Isabella as she sat there, fuming. She would glance at me every so often and I would hear the words 'jackass' or 'asshole' whispered barely above audible level. If I didn't have the hearing that I did, I wouldn't have heard the uttered words, but they didn't escape my notice.

The guard at the front of the house, Howard, saw the car coming and opened the gates for us, giving us a thumbs up as we rolled by. All of the lights that were on when I had arrived here the first time this evening were still lit and I could practically see Charlie Swan pacing a hole into the floor of his living room right this minute.

Pulling up and looking at the clock on the dashboard, I saw that it had taken me thirty seven minutes to collect Isabella from her friend's house. Not too bad, considering.

She made a move to get out of the car, but I locked the doors, the small nodule disappearing into the door meaning she couldn't pull it out and let herself out of the car.

"What the fuck?!" She turned and glared at me, obviously wanting out of the car and away from me. I didn't blame her.

"Language, Isabella." I replied calmly as I killed the engine and flipped on the overhead light. I didn't need the light to see, but it would make her feel more at ease.

"Let me out of here, you asshole." She sneered, trying to open the door again.

"No." I said softly and she turned to glare at me again. "Calm down. It's not as though I've driven you into the middle of nowhere. We're in front of your house."

"That's why I want out of the car." She snapped, her anger rising.

"You can leave the car when you've calmed down and listened to me." I turned my head, giving her an apathetic stare. She wasn't happy about it, but she relented, huffing through her nose and sitting back in the seat, her arms folding over her chest as she glared out of the window again. "That's better." I could feel her anger rising as we sat there. I wanted to chuckle to myself at her behaviour but that would be counterproductive, so I didn't.

"Well?" She was impatient and I didn't blame her. I wouldn't want to be in a car with me for longer than I had to be. But then again, maybe that was because I knew what kind of a person I was and the things that I had done. She just didn't like me because I'd taken her away from her friends.

"Well?" I decided I wanted to have a little fun with her and play.

"What did you want to say?" She sounded angry and yet defeated, as though she didn't have the energy to fight anymore. That's what I had been waiting for.

"First of all, don't take that kind of tone with me. I don't take kindly to it." I held up my hand as she opened her mouth to speak, telling her to stop before she started because it would get her nowhere. "I know you probably hate me right now. In fact, the word 'probably' is most likely redundant at this point in time. But let me tell you this right now." I turned to look at her so she knew I wasn't playing around. "I am not here to be your friend. I am not here for you to even like, Isabella. I am here to do the job your father has asked me to because he doesn't know who else will be able to put a stop to your destructive behaviour. He's had to pull out the big guns. I know that you're thinking of ways to get rid of me, right now, but let me tell you this; there have been worse things in my life, than a seventeen year old girl. Nothing you try will work. So don't even try. I am here until your father deems it unnecessary anymore. Do I make myself clear?" She glared at me, but the expression on her face told me she understood. "Get inside." I unlocked the car doors and she threw herself out into the driveway, nearly tripping in her rush to get away from me.

As I entered the house, I saw her feet disappearing up the stairs as her father stood there, dumbfounded at the bottom, watching her go.

"What the hell did you say to her?" He asked, watching me with a slightly awed expression.

"Just letting her know where we stand." I replied, giving him a small smile.

"Well, whatever you did, keep it up." He grinned at me, clearly pleased with the fact that his daughter was not locked inside her bedroom. "Please."

"I intend to." I nodded once as he grinned at me, clearly pleased that I had kept to my word of having her back under an hour, and without an argument when she got back in the door. He must have been relieved.

"Now, if you want to come with me." He motioned me to follow him as he turned around. It was as though I was being taken for some kind of interview, although I knew that I had already gotten the job. He clearly knew that he wanted me to watch his daughter before he called me. Or else he wouldn't have pressed the button that connected his phone to mine.

He led me to a room that I guessed was his personal office. It was quite a large room, with a large oak desk sat facing inwards in front of a blinded window. There were two large leather chairs in front of and behind the desk. The one behind it was a bit more lavish than the other and I knew that this was his seat. Splashing out a bit. I had been known to do the same, if you hadn't guessed by the car sitting in the driveway.

"Well, you've certainly proven to live up to your reputation." He chuckled sitting down in the chair behind the desk, motioning for me to do the same. I sat down and he sighed gently. "She doesn't understand why I do this. She doesn't understand that if there had been someone else here, her mother would-" He cut himself off, as though he wasn't sure of how much I knew.

Everything. I knew everything.

"I heard about your wife, sir." I nodded once. "I'm very sorry."

"Thank you." He sighed, gazing at a photograph. The angle was as such that I couldn't see it and I didn't want to seem as though I was intruding on anything, so I sat perfectly still as he composed himself. "I won't go into details now, but if there had been someone else here with her, then Renee wouldn't have had to defend herself. Bella doesn't understand that."

"So she acts out against whatever authority you put in place." He nodded, closing his eyes and sighing, turning to face me again. "She's a teenager. It's what they do."

"I know." He nodded slowly, as though thinking something through. "You say, 'don't touch the fire' and they stick their hand straight in. And wonder why they got burned." He sat up straight, lining up some papers on his desk before looking up at me again, his brown eyes seeming to evaluate me. As his eyes met mine, I could see that he was confused about the colour. I got that a lot. People weren't used to golden eyes. Hell, they were my eyes and _I_ wasn't sure about them. "Now, as you've probably seen, Bella is a lot to handle."

"I've handled worse." I assured him and he smirked slightly, his moustache lifting ever so slightly at the side.

"I'm sure you have." He sighed, sitting back in his chair. "You're sure you want to take on this job?"

"I am." I nodded, smiling slightly at him. I could see that this man needed some form of intervention with his daughter and I knew that the person to provide this service.

"It would mean you moving onto the premises." I nodded, having anticipated this. I had already packed a fair amount of clothes and they were currently sitting in the trunk of my car. I never really stayed in one place for too long as it was, preferring to stay on the move. All of us did. "There is an apartment above the garage. Sounds a little old school movie, doesn't it? The foundations in the apartment are strong enough so that it won't bother you when the door is opening, which is a good thing because I work early." He smiled sheepishly at me, as though it was his fault his hours were demanding. "The access door to the apartment is located across the hall from Bella's bedroom, so you'll be able to get to her quickly, should you need to." He passed me a piece of paper and I knew what it was immediately. "These are the access codes for the different areas of the house and grounds." He pointed to each one and told me where it was for quickly before continuing. "Please memorise and destroy them." _Already done._

I pretended to be scanning the paper while I was really focusing on Isabella's movements above us as she moved around in her bedroom. She appeared to be pacing, probably on the phone to one of her friends, complaining about Charlie or myself, or both. I could have overheard what she was saying, but that would mean diverting more of my concentration from Charlie.

Looking down the list I saw everything I expected to.

_Main gates._

_Main house._

_Guest house._

_Pool house._ Because apparently that was separate.

_Main gate guard house._

_Surveillance room._

"Of course." I smiled at him, tucking the papers into my pocket, acting as though I needed to take a small amount of time to memorise each number, even though it was already embedded in my mind.

"Now . . ." He seemed to hesitate, wondering what to say. "This is the awkward bit." Ah! My payment.

I noticed a small pad and a pen on the table and reached for it, writing down a number, not wanting to make him any more uncomfortable than he had to be. Clearly, he did not enjoy talking about money.

"This," I ripped off the top sheet and slid it across the desk towards him, watching as he took it and his face registered a small amount of shock, so fleeting that if I hadn't been wired to notice the smallest changes in behaviour, I would have missed it, before it morphed back into the mask he had been wearing before. "Is my usual fee."

He nodded, taking a deep breath and pulling out a cheque book, writing it out quickly, glancing at the sheet of paper, getting the numbers right.

I wonder if he thought I wasn't worth the money.

But then again, he must think I am, considering he hadn't said a 'thank you but please leave' upon seeing the number. He slid the cheque over to me and I pocketed it, smiling slightly at him.

"Now, considering what happened to Bella's mother, I am very paranoid about who comes and goes in this home. I will admit to being paranoid, I hold my hands up. So, to make sure that you don't become falsely accused of anything, I'd like to take a fingerprint sample and add it into the database of workers I have set up. Just to rule you out in case something happens." He shrugged slightly, smiling at me. I didn't blame him for being paranoid. Your wife gets murdered in her own home, you're bound to have some issues.

"That won't be necessary, Commissioner." I held up my hand and he looked at me confused as he paused in taking out his equipment. Of course he would have printing equipment in his home.

"What do you mean?" He sounded wary. As though I was someone to worry about.

"I don't have any fingerprints." I told him honestly. It was true. I didn't.

"What do you mean, you don't have any fingerprints?" He sounded confused as he looked at my fingers. I placed my hand palm up on the table so that he could see the ends of my fingers, his eyes widening as he realised they were completely smooth. "How did that happen?"

_Good question_. "An accident as a child. Like you said, tell a child not to do something, it'll do the opposite. Long story short, I took hold of something and burned my hands, removing my fingerprints. Some say that they should have reappeared soon after my accident, but as you can see, that is not so."

"Huh." Was all that came out of the mouth of Charlie Swan. So it seems he'd believed my lie. Well, it was a partial lie. They had been burned off. But not when I was a child. He seemed to believe it, so that's a plus. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Does pose a few problems." I nodded, acting as though it _had_ caused some problems. Not that it had at all.

"Saves me a job at least." He shrugged and I nodded, smiling slightly. "Well, I leave the house generally between five and five thirty in the morning, as I will be doing tomorrow. Bella has to be in school for eight o'clock and finishes at three. She's generally been able to avoid the others after school, disappearing to her friend's houses and not responding to calls or texts. Do you think-"

"Don't worry, Commissioner Swan. She might have found it easy avoiding the others you employed. Her tricks won't work on me." I gave him a confident smirk that seemed to placate him.

"Are there any questions you have at all?" He asked, sounding slightly hopeful. Did he want me to have questions?

"Just one." I sat up a little, sensing that he was ready to retire to his bedroom. "Whilst you are at work, Isabella is permitted to have guests, yes?" He nodded, smiling as though he understood my reason for questioning him on that particular issue. "Just thought I'd clarify."

"Well, then, here is the key for the apartment. Everywhere else is code operated. There's a phone in the apartment that connects to every phone in the house, other than cells of course. The internal numbers for each room are listed next to it and to make an external call just press nine." He handed me the keys and proceeded to show me where the apartment was. "That is Bella's room." He pointed to a door across from the one he was opening at the moment and I nodded, understanding.

She was in there at the moment. I could hear her slight movements as she wrote something down, shifting every so often, most likely affecting the blood flow to certain parts of her body. That's what happens when you sit too long in a certain position.

The apartment was a decent size, spanning about two thirds of the size of the one I was currently living in. But then again, the apartment I currently held was too big for me on my own. I occasionally had uninvited guests – not unwelcome, just uninvited – and I wanted to make sure I had somewhere other than a couch for them to sleep.

I made my way through, learning and committing to memory where everything was as Charlie left me to my own devices. I heard his door close and made my way out to my car, which was still parked out the front of the house where I had left it after collecting Isabella. I climbed in and moved it so that it was next to the garage. Charlie had mentioned about installing the little device that would allow me to access the garage when I returned. For the moment, I wasn't too bothered.

I grabbed my belongings out of the trunk and made my way back up to the small apartment, stopping outside Isabella's bedroom. Her breathing was deep and heavy, her heartbeat slow and rhythmic, meaning she had fallen asleep.

Keeping an ear out for any movements coming out of the bedroom across the hall, I unpacked the suitcases I had been able to fit into the trunk of my car and slid them under the enormous king-sized bed that occupied the bedroom. Not that I would be using it very often, but that was by the by.

Slipping into some black lounge pants and matching t-shirt, I got ready to catch a few hours sleep before starting off tomorrow. I figured I might as well start off on a fresh note, rather than pushing myself as I normally did. I froze when something caught my eye out of the window. Keeping still, I saw another flicker of movement and focused on it, feeling the focus in my eye shifting as I did so.

There was someone sneaking through the bushes that lead around the house. They clearly knew where the cameras were situated, pausing every so often, trying to catch that blind spot as the cameras overlapped their images.

Pulling on some soft shoes, I opened the window, thanking Charlie for putting a balcony on the side of the house. I kept whoever decided they were going to sneak in, in my sights as they moved.

I nimbly launched myself over the side of the balcony, landing without making much of a noise at all. Something that comes with practise. He was still in my sights and looked as though he had no idea he was being hunted. I followed him silently, gaining on him as he made his way around the house. It was clear that he was aiming for Isabella's room as he stopped and looked around, trying to see if he'd been spotted.

_Yes, you have._ I smirked to myself as I snuck up behind him. He bent down, picking up a few small stones, getting ready to launch them at the window.

I grabbed his wrist as he pulled his arm back, about to throw and twisted it behind his back. He let out a yelp of surprise and squirmed against my hold, trying to get free. I tightened my grasp on his wrist, wrapping the fingers of my other hand around his opposite bicep, stilling his movements. His breathing was heavy and frantic as he stood there, in the grasp of my superior strength, his adrenaline piquing and sweat starting to form across his body. I knew these reactions, because they were the standard reactions when in close proximity to me and others like myself.

"Weren't you ever taught that it's rude to come onto someone's property without their invitation first?" I spoke lowly, threateningly and I could have sworn a whimper came from him. "Well?"

"I-I-I-" Great. The kid couldn't even string two words together. I recognised the tenor of the stuttering as the same male voice that spoke to Isabella at the house I had taken her from earlier this evening.

"Come on." I growled, dragging him along with me to the main house. Something told me that Charlie would like to know about this.

I dragged him into the main house to find that Charlie was on his way down the stairs.

"Edward?" He questioned, looking confused as his gaze flicked between myself and the boy I had now released standing in the foyer. "James? What are you doing here?" His tone was accusatory as he continued down the stairs, stopping on the bottom step.

I raised my eyebrows at him and he glared at me, clearly annoyed that I had stopped him from achieving his goal.

"Well, considering I caught him red handed about to cause potential damage to the windows of Isabella's room by throwing rocks at it, I can safely say he was attempting to break her out." I folded my arms across my chest as his glare intensified. Sure, you can hate me kid. I'm just doing my job. No skin off my nose if you decide you hate me.

Listening closely I could hear movement coming from Isabella's room and knew that she was awake and making her way down to see what was going on. I wondered what she'd say to find her little friend in front of Charlie and me.

"Dad?" I heard Isabella's voice call from up the stairs but didn't take my eyes off of her friend. "Dad, what's going-" She stopped, both speaking and on the stairs and I could tell that she had seen James. It was kind of obvious when you thought about it. "James, what are you doing here?"

"That's something I'd like to know the answer to as well, James." Charlie came to stand in front of me, challenging him. I didn't say anything, knowing it wasn't my place to do so. This was between the three of them, so I removed myself from the triangle, making sure I was around if they needed me. Not that they would, seeing as he was just a kid, but hey, you never know what someone could be carrying.

"Dad!" Isabella's voice cut through the air and I turned to see him throwing James out of the door by his collar. "Dad, why would you do that?" I had purposefully stopped listening to their conversation, so I had no idea what was going on.

I turned to look at them and saw Isabella standing there glaring at her father as he stormed up the stairs, obviously pissed at the evening's events.

"Something funny?" She snapped, glaring at me as she made her way through to the kitchen.

"Why would you think that?" I asked, following her, leaning against the island in the middle of the kitchen while she busied herself in the fridge, most likely having been hit with a case of the munchies. I'd never had them myself, or at least, if I had, they were part of a long forgotten past, so I didn't really know what she was hunting for.

"Just the look on your face is all." She sighed, closing the fridge without taking anything out of it and sitting at one of the bar stools. "Why the hell does he do this?"

"Who do what?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest as I watched her.

"Charlie." She sighed, looking down at her hands. "I mean, it's like he doesn't want me to have any friends or any kind of life. I hate being cooped up in this house all the time. I hate not being able to go out when I please, having to hurt him just to have a little bit of freedom."

Well, what does one say to that? What does someone say to a girl that they only met two hours or so ago when she's ranting about her father taking his anger out on her friends? Though in this scenario, the kid _was_ creeping around on his property, so the anger is well placed. But still, what do I say to her?

"Well, maybe if you were a little less . . . out of control . . . he wouldn't be so restrictive." I shrugged and she looked at me as though I had admitted I was clinically insane. "What?"

"You really have no clue, have you?" She rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she looked at me.

"Clearly I don't." I stood up straight and she glared at me. "So . . . why don't you enlighten me? Why do _you_ think that your father is so tight on you being safe? Huh?" I tilted my head to the side, wondering if she'd actually answer my question.

"Because of my mom." She whispered and I had to say that she had surprised me. I thought she would just come out with a sarcastic quip or remark, but no. She comes out with the truth. Maybe I had misjudged her slightly. "But just because that happened to her doesn't mean it's going to happen to me. I mean, what are the chances of it happening? He just needs to back off and let me live my own goddamn life." Or maybe not.

"Well, unfortunately for you, Isabella, you're not eighteen yet, so he still has the last say over how you _do_ live your life." I raised my eyebrows at her and I could tell that she wasn't impressed.

"What would you know?" She snapped, standing up and trying to act intimidating. I didn't really have the heart to tell her she had the look of a kitten trying to be a tiger. "What would you know about coming home to your dad telling you that you're never going to see your mom again? What would you know about watching him practically disappear in front of your eyes because he feels like he can't go on, yet has to because of you? Huh? What would _you_ know about anything like that?"

"You're right." I nodded, understanding where her anger was coming from and refusing to let mine take control, just as hers had.

"What?" She looked taken aback, as though she had been expecting a fight. May that was what she was aiming for. Wouldn't surprise me.

"You're right." I repeated and she blinked at me in surprised. "I don't know what any of that feels like. But you should feel lucky to have the memories you, your mother and your father shared while she was still here. Memories of who she was and what she was like and of who your father was before she died. The man he used to be. Because not all of us are that privileged."

I turned around and made my way up the stairs hearing her padding along behind me, slowly. I knew she was itching to ask about my little comment, but she didn't have the courage to do so. I couldn't tell her what I had meant by it. She didn't need to know.

I had let out enough already.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_Eyes._

_Drills._

_Wires._

_Machines._

_Screams of pain coming from just down the hallway._

_Screams of pain I knew so well and wanted to stop no matter what it cost me._

_Being contained inside four walls of reinforced glass. Being watched. Evaluated. Assessed._

"_How long can he last without food or water?" _Her_ voice sounded through my mind, shaking me to the very core._

"_Around eight days."_

"_Hmmmm . . ." I opened my eyes as her shoes clicked closer to where I was. "Leave him in there for five." Her voice was cold and collected, uncaring._

_Darkness._

_More screams._

_More machines._

"_Edward!"_

I practically flew up out of the bed, my breathing heavy and harsh, covered in sweat.

"_This_ is exactly why I don't sleep." I mumbled to myself, glancing at the clock and seeing that it was four in the morning. I had managed to get four and a half hours sleep. Which surpassed any other time I managed to drift off.

I grabbed my phone, knowing that the person I wanted to call would be awake. I pressed the call button and she answered on the second ring, knowing immediately why I was calling her.

"You had the dream again, didn't you?" The question was rhetorical, so I knew better than to answer. "How are you?"

"Honestly, I feel like shit." I replied, running my hand through my hair. "I don't know, Alice . . . I just . . ."

"You realise that how you live your life doesn't help, don't you?" She sighed into the phone and I rolled my eyes. We had this conversation each and every time we talked and it always went the same way.

"Are you still having it?" I threw back at her and she fell silent. "There we go then."

"How long did you sleep for this time?" She asked and I heard doors closing on the other end of the line, meaning that she was moving into another part of her house, not wanting to wake her boyfriend, Jasper.

"Around four hours." I replied, gazing out the window.

"That's good." She replied, sounding genuinely happy.

"What about you?" I asked, worrying about her. Alice was the closest thing I had to family and I couldn't lose her. To anything. She was my sister for all intents and purposes.

"About the same." She sighed, and I could practically see her running her hand through her spiky black hair. "Where are you now?"

"Seattle." I sighed, flicking on the bedroom lamp and settling back on the bed, getting comfortable.

"Still?" She sounded surprised, but then again I didn't blame her. I had been here for three months already and I never stayed put that long. Alice was taking a real risk with Jasper, not just with herself, but him as well. She knew that taking on a permanent residence would put him in danger, but she loved him too much to fight it. All she wanted was him.

And after all the shit she had been through, she deserved her shot at a normal, happy life. Didn't she? Didn't the both of us?

"Yeah, I think I'm going to be here for a while as well." I sighed and I knew that her curiosity was piqued. "There's a Police Commissioner here. Really protective of his daughter."

"So he decides to call in Edward Masen." I could practically see her smirk on the other end of the line and I laughed lightly. Alice was the only one I could be myself with. She was the only one that knew the real me.

We had been to Hell and back together.

"Yup." I ran my hand through my hair, lightly tugging on the ends. "Ali, I have a favour to ask."

"Go." She replied instantly and I knew that she would do whatever I asked. I know that no matter how much she hated what she had become, there wasn't anything she wouldn't do for me. And besides, this little job was perfect for her.

"Well, I have a little blip in guarding this girl." I sighed, knowing the problem I faced already, and it didn't even matter yet. "I can't watch her while she's in school."

"Ah, so you want me to pose and watch her for you, yes?" She knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Sounds stupid, but I want all bases covered." I told her honestly and she giggled.

"Of course I will." She laughed.

The thing about Alice is, she might be the same age as me, but she could easily pass for a high school student. She was small and bouncing, endless amounts of energy and enthusiasm. She was a lovable girl and I needed her more than I needed anything. She knew me like no other, and I knew her as no one else in the world did. As I said, we were as close, if not closer, than siblings. She was my sister.

I spoke to her for a little while longer before hanging up and dozing on the bed for a little while, whilst waiting for the sun to make an appearance.

Even before the light started to appear over the tops of the buildings of Seattle, I was aware of movement coming from Isabella's room. I listened for a moment whilst I got dressed, going casual seeing as it was Sunday and I didn't have to worry about looking formal, considering I wasn't expected to go anywhere. I know Charlie was probably expecting me to get my things today, but I would do that whilst Isabella was in school on Monday, after dealing with everything else.

As I slipped on my shoes, I heard her door click closed too quietly for her to be going down to get something to eat. She was already wearing shoes, so I immediately knew she was planning on sneaking out of the house.

From the direction her footsteps were going, she was planning on heading out of the back door, so I leapt out of the same window I had last night, landing with a barely audible thud before quickly making my way around the house, just to see her closing the door almost silently, her back to me as she made sure that it was closed properly.

"And where do we think we're going so early in the morning?" I asked, my voice light and easy, enjoying her reaction as she jumped, completely taken off guard by my presence.

"What the hell?" She whisper shouted, not wanting to wake Charlie. "What are you doing up? And out here?"

"I think I should be asking you that question, considering _you_ are the one attempting to sneak out." I smirked at her, walking towards her, taking slow and precise steps. She gulped audibly and I felt my smirk grow. "Do we seem to be forgetting what I told you last night?" There was a slight confusion in her eyes as she watched me. "It won't work."

"What won't?" Her voice quavered as she watched me, her eyes not fixating on any spot on my body for too long.

"Anything." I replied and her gaze shot to my eyes. "Back to bed." I told her, reaching around her and opening the door.

She glared at me and I couldn't help but chuckle at her response. If she thought that she was going to be able to get around me at all, she had another thing coming.

Maybe this was the kind of thing I needed to get me out of the 'funk' – as Alice called it – I was in.

I heard her bedroom door slam upstairs and I couldn't help the smile that passed across my face as I closed the back door, waiting for a panicked sputtering from Charlie. Wouldn't surprise me.

Yes, this was _definitely_ what I needed.

Game on, Isabella. Game on.

**_Let me know what you think._**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Disclaimer: Owning nowt to do with Twilight. *Hangs head sadly* Maybe one day though._**

**_I have to say, over a hundred reviews for the first two chapters. Wow! Thank you so much you guys. You seem to really be getting into the whole mystery of Edward, which I think is great. That is why I create him after all. I'm loving all of your guesses as to his past and there will be more snippets and teasers in the chapters to come. I do have the story all planned out and I'm very happy with it to say the least :D Love it and I hope you will too._**

**_So, without further ado, here's Special Agentward. As named by Shelby0321. Loving her!_**

**_Edward_**

I could tell that Isabella was becoming aggravated by my presence in her home. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't her decision and she would just have to put up with it until her father no longer needed me around.

After her little escape attempt, Sunday passed relatively slowly. I made sure to keep an ear out for her movements, smirking to myself when she huffed indignantly upon finding me in the kitchen downstairs. Well, I couldn't help it if it was my job to keep an eye on her, could I?

Well, to be fair I could, but that's by the by.

Monday morning, I was roused from my dozing state by my phone vibrating on the nightstand. I looked at the clock quickly, seeing it was 4:30AM and smiled to myself, knowing exactly who it was.

"Alice." I greeted her upon flipping open the phone.

"I'm in Seattle." She responded. Though the two of us were close, we never felt the need for the greetings that others bestowed upon each other upon answering the phone. Neither of us knew how much time we would have or when we would need to move, so they were pushed aside.

"Where?" I asked, climbing out of bed and making my way towards the dresser.

"The diner near the address you gave me." She replied quietly. I was surprised it was open this early, but hey, considering this was mostly a suburban area of Seattle. Oh well, goes to show what I know, doesn't it?

"Be there in ten." I replied, closing the phone and grabbing some jeans and a black t-shirt. I threw on some socks and shoes, grabbing my leather jacket, keys, phone, a large envelope filled with what I would need for this morning and some cash before jumping off the balcony so I didn't wake Charlie or Isabella. I knew that Charlie would wake at five thirty, so I had to be back before then.

Jumping into my car and opening the garage, I quickly drove down the driveway, hoping that the noise hadn't roused the Chief. If it had, once I got back I would make it sound as though I hadn't heard anything. He had no reason to doubt me considering I lived directly above the garage and my skills at deception were second to none.

I'd been told that on more than one occasion.

Pulling up to the diner, I quickly parked and made my way inside, spotting Alice instantly. She might be small, but she was an individual.

At four foot eleven, she would easily be missable in a large crowd, if it wasn't for the energy she exuded at all times. Her black hair had been spiked out in all directions as it hung just above her shoulders. Her golden eyes spotted me instantly and a huge smile spread across her lips as I approached. It had been too long since I'd seen her. I vowed to make more of an effort to visit Jasper and her in the future.

"Hey, bro." She grinned at me, her eyes twinkling.

"Hey, sis." I sat down on the opposite side to the table, unable to stop myself smiling. Even though we weren't really related, we considered each other family. The closest each of us had to such attachments. Other than Jasper but he would never fully know the extent to Alice's past. I, on the other hand, had experienced it right alongside her. Looking at her, you would have thought that she had had the same upbringing as girls such as Isabella. You would never guess what really lay in her past. Alice's personality was as such that no matter what kind of day you had had you couldn't help but smile in her presence.

"So . . . what do I need to know?" Her face turned serious and I nodded, holding up a finger as the waitress approached behind me.

"Is there anything I can get for you, sir?" She asked, her voice tired. I wasn't surprised. She had probably been on this shift since the evening before and was most likely wanting to get to bed sometime soon.

"Just a black coffee, please." I smiled up at her and she smiled back, her stance easing as she looked at me.

"Still able to make the ladies swoon, huh, Edward?" Alice quirked an eyebrow as the waitress walked away. I smirked and shrugged, not really caring at the moment. "So . . ."

"Isabella is a junior. She often goes by the name of Bella-"

"But you call her Isabella to piss her off." Alice nodded, a little smirk of her own gracing her lips.

"I call her Isabella because she hasn't earned the abbreviation." I corrected and Alice nodded. She knew that with me, things had to be earned. She was the same way. If you hadn't earned, you didn't get.

"Something she's not pleased about." She took a sip of the coffee in front of her and I quirked an eyebrow at her drink of choice. "Decaf."

"Good." I chuckled moving away from her before she could hit me. "Ow." I grabbed at my shin, rubbing it from where her foot had made contact. She might be small, but hell, she hurts. I saw her glance around quickly to make sure that no one else had caught our little exchange, considering we were moving a little too quickly to be considered normal. She sat back against her seat and I took that as meaning none of the sleepy patrons had taken any notice. "And no, she isn't." I chuckled, shaking my head as I remembered the little altercation in the kitchen yesterday morning.

_Flashback_

_I heard Isabella moving through the upstairs corridor towards the staircase as I sipped at my still scorching coffee, scanning through the morning newspaper. Apparently, Newton's Outfitter's were having a sale. Whoopee! Note the sarcasm._

_Knowing that she was about to round the door, I placed the paper flat as I heard a huff of air coming from the doorway. I looked up to see Isabella standing there, the most hateful glare she could muster being shot at me from where she was situated._

_Personally, I thought it looked like a kitten trying to be a tiger. But such is the glare of a five four seventeen year old girl._

_She quickly moved to the counter behind me, grabbing the coffee pot and pouring herself a cup, banging and slamming cupboards wherever she could._

_"Not in a good mood this morning, Isabella?" I asked, knowing full well what the answer was._

_"It's Bella." She replied, her tone icy and frustrated._

_"Excuse me?" I could feel the glare aimed at my back, knowing that she knew I had heard what she said._

_"I said, it's Bella." She replied, coming to stand in front of me, practically slamming her cup down on the counter. Someone's pissed this morning. "I _hate_ Isabella."_

_"Well, you'll have to get used to it." I replied, looking up at her. "Because until you learn some manners, that is what I will be calling you."_

_"Excuse me?" She practically screeched and I knew that were Charlie here, it would have alerted him to the disagreement unfolding. Thankfully, he had left a little under an hour ago, so I wouldn't have to placate him today. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"_

_"It means that when you stop acting like a spoiled child and more like a seventeen year old should be acting, I will adhere to your request of being called Bella." I replied calmly and coolly, which only seemed to fuel her anger._

_"How dare you say that?" She seethed and I had to stop myself from laughing. I might have faced some intimidating and scary things in my past, but Isabella Swan was not one of them. "You have no right to come in here and say stuff like that to me. Stop me from doing what I want to. I don't even want you here!"_

_"Firstly," I stood up and rested my hands on the counter in front of me. "It doesn't matter that you don't want me here. I was hired by your father and until he tells me that my services are no longer required, you're stuck with me. Secondly, it is my job to stop you from sneaking out of the house at five o'clock on a Sunday morning. I'm not sure many of your friends would be happy to see you at that time, especially considering where I picked you up from last night." She didn't say anything, only continued to glare at me. "And finally, when you give up the attitude and start to consider how every little thing you do affects your father and other people around you, I will then concede and grace you with the name of Bella. Until then, as people say, suck it up. I am here to stay."_

_I could see her posture stiffen as she took in a deep breath before letting out some strangled cry and stormed out of the room, her coffee mug abandoned on the counter._

_"You forgot your coffee!" I called up to her, earning myself a slight pause and another mangled scream of annoyance. I couldn't help but smirk into my mug as I swallowed a mouthful, knowing I was getting under her skin._

_End Flashback_

"Jeez, Edward, you can be really mean, you know that?" Alice chuckled, shaking her head as I finished telling her what had transpired in the kitchen. "So you need my help in keeping an eye on her in school?"

"I do." I nodded, pulling the envelope out of my jacket and sliding it across the table. She opened them and nodded as she scanned them before placing them back into the envelope. "You are in all of her classes and have the same lunch period. I'm going in to see the Principal today, because I'm sure he's going to be a little confused at the fact he has a new student he's never heard of before."

"Probably." She nodded, finishing her coffee and slipping the envelope into her bag. She wouldn't need to reread it, but I knew that she wanted it for security purposes. Just in case.

I glanced at my watch and upon seeing that it was ten past five I knew I had to be making a move to ensure that Charlie didn't wonder where I was. I had told him yesterday morning that I was an early riser and to expect me up and about when he was. He didn't seem to have a problem with that.

I bid Alice a farewell and she winked at me, stating that I would probably see her later on. I didn't doubt that she would at some point. I knew that she was intrigued with Isabella and would most likely become fast friends with her. Alice's personality was as such that you could help it.

Annoying little pixie.

I made it back to the house in less than three minutes, silently moving around the house and expertly making it through my balcony window. I felt like I should be seventeen again, sneaking in and out of the house. But then again, I wasn't and had never been a normal seventeen year old.

Charlie's alarm went off at five thirty and thankfully he shut off the blaringly, annoyingly persistent machine after a few seconds. I hated that thing. If it wasn't required, I would throw it out of the window at the first opportunity.

I met Charlie downstairs just as I had the previous morning and he nodded at me, sipping on his coffee as I poured myself a cup. Yes, I was aware that it was my second cup in less than an hour and that might send some a little loopy, but hey, I don't really care.

"Edward." Charlie's gruff voice sounded from behind me and I turned to face him as he stood there. "I don't want Bella driving to and from school anymore, so I've taken her keys from her room."

"That's not going to go over well." I smirked at him and he laughed once, without humour.

"No, I know it's not. And unfortunately, it's going to be you that bears the brunt of her attack." I shrugged, shaking my head and he chuckled again at my nonchalance. "It's your funeral."

"I've handled worse." He had no idea how true that statement was.

"Well, anyway. I'd like you to take her to and from school. Now she's normally been able to slip by as I've said, so you need to watch out."

"Don't worry, sir." I shook my head lightly. "I've got it covered." No need to mention Alice as of yet. When the time comes I might do.

"I'm sure you do." He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

He stood there for a moment as if pondering something, his eyes distant and slightly vacant. "Um, Charlie?" He hummed slightly, looking up at me. I nodded to the clock on the wall, indicating the time and he cursed under his breath lightly.

"You know where the school is, right?" He asked and I nodded. He stood there for a moment, looking slightly lost, as if he didn't really know whether he was coming or going. The perplexed look he held was amusing to say the least, though I didn't make it known. Not sure that would have gone down well.

About an hour after Charlie left the house, I heard Isabella stirring and climbing out of bed. She took an hour or so to get ready, including a shower and whatever primping girls do in the morning. I never understood why it took girls so long to get ready. Alice was the worst for that. I swear, if she didn't have at least three hours, you were in trouble.

Making up for lost time, I guess.

She came down the stairs at around seven thirty, bag slung over her shoulder, dropping it at the bottom of the staircase before coming into the kitchen. I knew that she was becoming more and more irritated with my presence, but hey, like I said before, I wasn't here to be her friend. And honestly, _I_ found it amusing to say the least.

"Good morning, Isabella." I said quietly, not wanting to really disturb the atmosphere of the house. It was easy and slow, just like it should be in the morning.

"Morning, _Edward_." I smirked at the way she said my name, her distaste of my presence clear.

"Still playing that game, are we?" I turned to face her, leaning on the counter behind me and she raised an eyebrow.

"What game?" Her tone was a mix of slightly offended and a child that has just been caught out.

"The one where you insult me as much as you can to get me to leave." I smirked at her, raising an eyebrow of my own as her cheeks turned red through her irritation.

She let out a huff of air through her nose, her gaze flicking to the window. Her breaths were deep as she tried to calm herself down. The lengths people will go to so they don't get angry. Sometimes it was just better to flip and let it all out. Then there isn't that uncomfortable tension in the air each time you see someone. It's all out in the open.

"Do you know where my keys are?" She asked, her tone surprisingly calm as she looked at me.

"Yes." I replied shortly, finishing the glass of water I had poured myself before she came down and placing it in the dishwasher beside where she was standing.

"Well?" I straightened up and raised an eyebrow at her. She rolled her eyes, clearly not happy about my lack of response. "Where are they?"

"Currently, sitting in your father's jacket pocket." I replied, sitting on one of the stools at the counter as she pushed herself off of the side.

"What the hell?" The pitch of her voice raised with each syllable, which, to my sensitive ears, was not a pleasant sensation. Putting it crassly: it hurt like a bitch. "Why does he have them?"

"Because from now on I will be taking you to and from school." I replied smoothly feeling her stiffen beside me.

"Not a chance." She hissed, stalking out of the kitchen towards her bag. I rolled my eyes and followed her out, seeing her taking her phone out of the front pocket of her bag. She pressed a couple of buttons and I knew that she was phoning one of her friends to come and get her. She hadn't heard me come up behind her so I used this to my advantage and plucked the phone from her grasp, ending the call just as the answering voice uttered a 'hello?' A male voice at that. "Hey!" She whirled around, her eyes furious as she took in my smirk. "Give me that back."

"You can have it back when you get to school." I told her, slipping it into the front pocket of my slacks. I had made the decision to change after getting back from meeting with Alice. After all, I was meeting with Principal Greene this morning and I wanted to give off the right impression.

"No." She shook her head, her glare murderous. "I want it back now!"

"I don't care what you want." I shrugged, turning back to the kitchen. Clearly, she did not understand this and followed me.

"That's _my_ phone." She argued stopping behind me as I picked up my jacket, keys, phone, wallet and the paperwork I planned on presenting to Principal Greene about Alice. All of it fake, of course.

"And?" I shrugged again. Was it wrong of me to enjoy antagonising her? Others might but I didn't think so.

"It's my property so give it back." She held out her hand in front of me and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Nope." I replied, popping the 'p' as I made my way around her and stopping at the door that lead into the garage. "If I were you I'd pick up your bag and come with me because otherwise, you'll be walking to school. In that." I pointed out the window and she turned to see that it had started raining. Heavily.

I could see that she was weighing up her options, having caught onto the fact that I was not going to give her back her phone any time soon. Finally, after a few moments, she rolled her eyes and huffed once more – did all teenagers do that? – and picked up her bag stalking towards and past me into the garage.

I followed her through the door to find her waiting impatiently next to my car. Nice to know that she remembered which one was mine. Though, it _did_ kind of stand out. As soon as the door clicked unlocked, she yanked it open and climbed it.

"Don't slam the door." I told her as I slid in, closing my eyes slowly as she did just that. "What part of 'don't' do you not understand?" I looked over at her to see that she had a smug smile on that. "You won't be smiling like that if you damage this car."

"And why is that?" She seemed pretty pleased about the idea of damaging my Estoque.

"How does a hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth of car sound to you?" I asked rhetorically as her eyes widened and her lips parted slightly. "Thought so."

"This car cost a hundred and fifty thousand dollars?" Her voice was laced with shock and I knew she hadn't realised that my paycheques really were _that_ big.

"More or less." I shrugged, looking over at her again. "Seatbelt." She scoffed lightly and shook her head. "You might be able to get away with not wearing a seatbelt in your little car, but in _this_ . . . you wear one."

"Right." She rolled her eyes again and I began wondering if the cheque I had in my pocket at the moment was worth her attitude. But then again, I had wanted a challenge, hadn't I?

"You asked for it." I muttered, clipping my own seatbelt on. If she didn't want to now, she definitely would by the time we reached her school, and would be wearing one from then on. Guaranteed.

I opened the garage door and sped down the driveway, allowing Howard some time to open the gate at the end. I don't know who it was on duty at the gates this morning, but I was going to have to talk to them at some point. I'd do it today whilst Isabella was at school.

The drive to her school was short. Shorter than she'd probably ever experienced it before and by the time we reached the parking lot, her fingers were grasping the seat so hard her knuckles were turning white.

"I told you to put your seatbelt on." I smirked, shaking my head. She glared at me, but didn't say anything in return. "You going to listen to me about the car from now on?" I raised an eyebrow and she nodded quickly, clearly not wanting to misjudge the knowledge I had of my own vehicle again.

She grabbed the handle, opening the door and stepped out of the car at the same time I did.

"What are you doing?" Her voice was a little shocked mixed in with anger. "You can't watch me while I'm at school!" _Oh, can't I?_ "You're not allowed."

"Actually, I need to talk to the Principal about something." I replied smoothly, walking around the front of the car, taking her cell phone out of her pocket. "I will be seeing you here at three o'clock."

"I normally go to a friends' house after school." She took the phone from me, slipping it into her bag quickly as though she thought I might snatch it away again.

"Not anymore, you don't." I held up a finger as she opened her mouth to argue. "And don't even think about skipping last class to sneak away with one of your friends. Yes, I know your avoidance tactics and they're pretty mediocre to be honest, but really . . . what can I expect from a teenager? Now, you _will_ be here at three o'clock, or I will be coming to find you. And I know you don't doubt that I will, considering I managed to find you when all I had to go on was 'a friend's house', you know that I will. Here. Three o'clock." I didn't leave her any room for argument as I finished and she nodded slowly, her eyes blazing with anger.

She turned around, walking towards her group of friends, including the blonde boy that I had caught on the Swans' property not two nights ago. He was glaring at me, which was understandable, considering his plan at springing Isabella had failed miserably at my hands.

I made my way towards the main entrance to the school, ignoring the curious looks of the students as I passed, walking into the small reception area in front of the Principal's office.

"Hello?" The secretary's eyes widened a little as she took in my appearance. "How can I help you?" The smile on her face indicated that she meant that in an 'anything at all' capacity and I managed to not shake my head to dispel the images now floating around in there.

"I would like a few minutes with Principal Greene if that were at all possible." I used my smoothest voice, keeping her eyes locked on my own, knowing that the golden colour put people at ease. Why, when it was such an odd colour, I wasn't sure, but in past experiences it has done just that.

"Do you have an appointment?" She straightened a little, her eyes still locked on mine as I shook my head lightly.

"Unfortunately I don't, and I don't possess the time to make one and then return." I explained and she shook her head a little.

"I'm afraid you need an appointment. He really is very busy." She shrugged a little, her expression changing from a 'what can I do for you' look to a 'Sorry, but there's nothing I can do' look.

"I need to speak to Principal Greene regarding a student." I explained softly, hearing him huffing slightly at something in his office, mumbling about 'goddamn transcripts'. Ah! Alice's transcripts must have arrived. Someone give that little pixie an award for her resources. My own resources were incredible, if I do say so myself, but Alice's came second to none. Not even me. "Isabella Swan?"

The secretary's face fell a little at the name I mentioned and I could tell that she wished it were anyone but Isabella. The girl might have an impressive GPA, but she knew how to run teachers, other members of staff and students ragged whenever she felt like it. Apparently, this young woman had seen too much of her to be comfortable.

"I'll see if he's free for a few moments." She slid back in her chair, disappearing into the room behind her. "_Principal Greene?"_

_"What?"_ I heard his voice clearly now, other than the frustrated mumbles that I had heard up until now.

"_There's a man outside wanting to talk to you-"_

"_I told you I didn't want to see anyone until I sorted out these goddamn transcripts_." He didn't even let the poor woman finish her sentence before grumbling about the papers in front of him

"_He said it's regarding Isabella Swan._" I heard the sudden stilling of his movements and intake of breath. Apparently he hadn't been able to stand up to her either. But then again, being the Police Commissioner's daughter, she must have had a lot of clout with the staff and students here. One word from her and they were in trouble. And most of them would be.

_"Send him in."_ He replied shortly and I heard her turn around and make her way towards the door again. She appeared a moment later, a small smile on her lips as she gestured towards the room behind her.

"Thank you." I nodded once at her, giving her a small smile of my own before closing the door behind me, hearing it click.

"So . . . you're the latest in a long line of body guards for Chief Swan's daughter, huh?" He sat back in his chair, seeming to appraise me from where he was.

The man, in himself, was entirely unimpressive. Standing up he wouldn't have been more than five ten, maybe five eleven. Nowhere near my six foot three, anyway. He was overweight, by at least forty pounds, by what I could tell and he was losing his hair right on the top of his skull. His arms and hands were stubby, looking as though they hadn't ever left the chunkiness a toddler ambles around with. His face was round, as you would have expected, his eyes dull and sunken, darting from side to side before landing back on me again, observing me silently.

I couldn't help but wonder how this man ended up in charge of a school.

"I am and I will be the last." I nodded and he let out a laugh.

"Do you know how many of them thought that watching a teenage girl would be a piece of cake compared to what most of them have been through?" He rolled his eyes at me as I stood there.

"Seventeen." I answered calmly. That was in fact the number of guards Isabella had managed to scare off before I had received the phone call from Charlie two days ago. "And I am aware that her last one was a former SWAT officer."

"Yeah, he was." He nodded once, his eyes falling to the papers in front of him as if wondering where they had come from all over again. As a matter of fact, he probably was.

"Well, their skills notwithstanding, but they were all idiots. They had no idea how to handle her. I on the other hand, do."

"You'd think so." He sighed, running a hand down his face, slowly. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Actually, it involves those transcripts on your desk at this very moment." I answered and his eyes snapped up to me. "They belong to someone who works for me." _Alice was going to have my balls for that comment, but hey, there wasn't really any other way to explain it so that this simple creature sitting in front of me would understand. _"Alice Brandon." I recited the name on the top of the file without looking at it. "I want you to make sure that she is in every class with Isabella. Lunch included. No exceptions."

"You can't just come in here and-"

"Refusing to help? I'm sure the Commissioner would love that." It was a low blow, but hey, necessary. "_All_ classes." He nodded slowly and I smirked at him.

"Who are you?" His eyes narrowed at me and I chuckled lightly.

"My name is Edward Masen. If you don't believe my story, you can call the Commissioner to have him clarify." I explained calmly, gesturing to the phone. He glanced at it, but shook his head.

"No." His eyes met mine again. "That won't be necessary. I'll make sure she's in the same classes as Miss Swan."

"Thank you." I nodded once before turning and making my way out of the office.

I saw Alice coming towards me as I made my way back to the car. I registered that her eyes were now blue. Clearly, she was having fun with the request I'd had of her. She did love to play dress up. She must have known that Isabella would notice the golden colour of her eyes and liken it to my own. The girl might be frustrating most of the time, but hey, she was sharp. I'd give her that. She was quick to catch things and work them out. Which meant I was going to have to watch myself around her. Alice would too.

I wondered what she'd make of high school. I'd have to ask her later.

As I walked back to the car, I pulled out my cell, tapping in the first few digits to the Swan security gate, selecting it when it appeared at the bottom of the screen.

"Swan residence." Howard's voice filtered into my ear mere moments after the phone began to ring.

"Howard? It's Edward." Yes, I see the end of the names. Ha ha, very funny. "I'd like you to assemble the entire security team. Even those on the night shift. To be at the security gate in an hour." My tone was subtle and yet commanding at the same time. I think he understood not to argue with me.

"Yes, sir." I could practically see him nodding over the phone as I hung up. Onto the next one.

After making a few calls, one of which to arrange for the movers to come out and move some of the boxes I had been packing up over the last half an hour, I was arriving back at the Swan house, being let in by Howard. He narrowed his eyes slightly at the van following me, but I think that _because_ it was following me, he allowed it to pass.

I had everything that I had packed up – which was a fair bit, considering my speed – up in my apartment in the Swan house before the set hour was up and five minutes before I needed to be, I was locking up the door to my apartment and making my way down towards the security gate.

I could see that the entire team was in fact standing in front of me. All twenty three of them. And some of them weren't happy, clearly having been woken up from what rest they had been getting at the time.

"Alright." I looked around at them as they stared back at me, some of them clearly wondering who I was. "For those of you who aren't aware of who I am, my name is Edward. I am the new body guard to Miss Swan. Now, I know what you're thinking, 'why the hell's he doing this, he'll be gone in two weeks anyway'. Am I right?" I didn't get much of an answer, but I knew that was the general consensus. "Well, I can tell you right now, that isn't going to happen. I know you've probably heard this before, but I have seen and dealt with a lot more than a seventeen year old girl.

"Now, the reason I have asked all of you to come here now, including those of you on the night shift – don't worry I won't keep you long – is because the lack of security in this place is one of the main reasons she keeps getting out. There are major holes in the fencing, little escape routes she uses and her friends use to get in. Just Sunday night I had to apprehend one of her little friends as he tried to sneak her out."

"James." Howard sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"You're familiar with him?" I asked, and he nodded, his lips a tight line.

"He's been around for a few years." He replied, sighing gently. "Commissioner Swan didn't like the way he kept taking Bella out – even though he knew that nothing would happen between the two of them, which is pretty much a given . . ." He paused when he saw my raised eyebrow, clearly asking him to elaborate on that last point. "He's gay." I nodded and he sighed again. "Anyway, Commissioner Swan told us not to allow him onto the property anymore, so he sneaks in. Always sneaking her out as well."

"_This_ is what I'm talking about." I looked around at them. "I'm guessing that her behaviour is having an effect on all of you, yes?" I got a few tired nods and murmurs from all of them. "Now, tighten the security when you're on your shift and it won't do. Now, before you all go, I would like you to locate all of her little escape routes. I know for a fact that there is one on the far west side of the property. That's the one she and James use to sneak in and out."

"Yes, sir." They all nodded, eager to get home.

"One last thing. Whilst you are at the gate, unless you are one hundred per cent certain of whom is in the car, I want them to be checked. Thoroughly. I know you might think I'm going a bit overboard with this, but I'm just doing my job. She gets hurt, it's on me." They all nodded in understanding. "Howard, if you could come back to me with a list of the locations of her little escape routes when you're done."

"Yes, sir." He nodded and they all spread out over the property. It astounded me that no one had thought to do this before. Clearly, none of her previous body guards had had that many brain cells.

They came to me two hours later with an extensive list of all the little holes that they had found in the fencing, craftily made 'ladders' and such items that would assist in Isabella and James getting off of the property. I thanked them all and sent the ones on the night shift home, assuring them that they would be paid for their time. I was sure that Charlie wouldn't mind. If it kept his daughter safe, then I doubted he really care about the money involved. Hell, he had hired me. Doesn't that say something.

I set the rest of the team – other than Howard, whom I needed at the gate – to begin the task of filling in the holes and dismantling the other means of escape she had created. This would stop now. It might seem a little extreme and a little harsh, but hey, I was only doing what I was being paid to do. Keep Isabella safe.

Charlie came home, midway throughout the day and I filled him in on what I had done this morning. I handed him the list the team had created and his brow furrowed noticeably as his eyes gazed down the paper. He looked up at me and I nodded. I informed him on the fact that the team had already begun cutting off those means of getting off of the property and of the fact that the night shift had come in to assist. He agreed that they would be paid for their time and since it wasn't their shift, they would be paid overtime. Seemed fair to me.

I managed to keep myself occupied until ten to three when I made my way into the garage, seeing that Charlie had left to go to his friend Billy's house for the evening.

When I pulled up to the school, I had nothing to do but wait. I closed my eyes and rested my head back on the seat, taking a deep breath.

"_Edward_." I heard Alice's voice whisper as though it was in my ear.

"Yeah." I replied, my tone at normal level as I looked towards the school.

"_She's not here." _Her tone was upset. I didn't know whether it was the fact that she had lost Isabella on her first day watching her, or that she had been left behind. I kind of hoped it was the first one, to be honest.

"Where has she gone?"

"_She left the classroom around ten minutes ago, claiming to need the bathroom. Her bag if still here, meaning she must not really care about what's in it."_ Well, it was only school stuff. Who really did care about that? "_Her footsteps went east just after she left the classroom. She headed out that way and into the woods. I'm sorry, Edward."_

"Don't be." I shook my head, wondering what the hell was wrong with this girl. Did she not listen or was it because she had been told not to do something, she has the childlike instinct to do it anyway. Or maybe it's _because_ she's been told not to do something. There's this compulsion there to act out, no matter what she does. "It's not your fault. You just need to get used to how she operates. We both do."

"_She's a seventeen year old girl." _She sighed gently and I could tell she was trying to stay so that the rest of the class couldn't hear her. Though it was proving difficult. _"Should be more prepared than this._"

"Don't worry, little sis." I told her as I climbed out of the car, locking it. She had said that Isabella had travelled east into the woods around the school. Thanking someone this was a suburban area of Seattle, huh, Isabella?

I made towards the direction Alice had said she heard Isabella disappear into. I could understand why she hadn't gone after her. Teachers were incredibly fussy about not letting two people out of the same class at the same time. It made sense really. I mean, you never know when they're plotting to disappear in the middle of school time. Though they really should have someone to watch out for them.

Shaking my head, I made my way towards the woods surrounding the school. She thought I wouldn't find her.

I sure as hell would.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**_It's not an incredibly exciting chapter, but we get to meet Alice, whom I love. I wish I had a best friend like Alice._**

**_Just how far is Bella willing to go to test Edward's patience? And who will win out in this battle of wills? Tune in next time to find out. Ha! I sound like a bad sitcom._**

**_Tattward is up next, peeps._**

**_Anyways, push the little green button and tell me what you thought of the chapter. Even if it seems irrelevant, I love to hear from you guys. Show me some love!_**

**_. . . please?_**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: Anything to do with Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just borrowing the characters for a little fun.**_

_**Bella**_

I couldn't believe the nerve of this guy. Who does he think he is, waltzing his way into my house, into my life and trying to take over? Who cared if Charlie hired him? I wanted him gone, as soon as possible. Sure he might be more experienced or whatever than any of the others were, but hey, he would be out of here soon enough. Just like the rest of them.

I would make sure of that.

"What was that about?" Jess asked glancing between Edward and myself. "What's he doing here?"

"Like I fucking know." I murmured running my hands through my hair, letting out a deep breath. "For whatever fucking reason, he's talking to Greene."

"Weirdo." James muttered as Edward disappeared into the building.

"He's cute, though." Tanya giggled and I rolled my eyes at him. "What? He is. I wonder how old he is."

"Too old for any of you girls." James remarked and we all rolled our eyes at him. _Idiot. _Since when had he become 'mother hen'? Since when had he cared who we dated? But then again, there wasn't really that much choice in this school.

I did have to agree with Tanya, though. Actually, no. She was wrong. He wasn't 'cute'. He was freakin' beautiful. Yeah, he might be a pain in my ass, but what with his pale skin, obvious muscle tone, strong jaw and perfect nose, there was no denying that he was one of the most beautiful men . . . ever.

The only thing I found odd about him were his eyes. They were obviously contacts. I mean, no one had _golden_ eyes. That was impossible. Right?

"Come on." Tanya stood up, pulling Jess and me with her as she walked into the building, leaving the boys completely bewildered. Hell, _I_ was completely bewildered.

"Where are we going?" Jess asked her, looking as confused as I was.

"Come off it, Jess. I know you want the scoop as much as I do." She stopped by her locker and rounded on me. "So, what's hottie bodyguard like?"

I rolled my eyes, leaning against the locker next to Tanya's. "He's a pain in the ass." The two of them raised their eyebrows as if to say 'no way'. I nodded, and they glanced at each other. "Did I tell you he basically attacked James on Saturday night?"

"What?" The volume coming from the both of them hurt my ears in the nearly empty corridor, whilst gaining the attention of everyone around us. Neither of them seemed to notice or . . . care.

"Yeah." I nodded and they looked at each other again, eyes wide with shock.

"Where? When?" Jess managed to choke out and I had to giggle at her expression. The both of them looked as though he had committed the most heinous crime known to man.

"My backyard on Saturday night after he practically kidnapped me from your house." I folded my arms over my chest as Tanya closed her locker.

"Well, technically James was trespassing." Jess shrugged and I openly gawked at her. "He was just doing his job."

"Yeah." Tanya nodded, agreeing with her. "I mean, what kind of a bodyguard would he be if he couldn't keep people away from you. And if he didn't know who James was, he must have thought he was a threat."

"I can't believe this." I stood up straight, gawking at the two of them. "You're defending him?!"

"Look at it from his point of view." The two of them, shrugged. "I mean, you've been called in to watch this girl, which you're doing and you see someone trespassing. You said he was in your backyard?" I nodded, narrowing my eyes at her. "Isn't that where your bedroom window is?" I nodded again, slowly, seeing what she was meaning now. "It's kinda obvious why he went for James."

"Well, at least you definitely know that no one's going to be able to get to you." Jess shrugged, smiling slightly. She knew that I'd had problems with a certain ex of mine over the last couple of weeks. Maybe Edward could come in handy after all. "And it's good to know that he can do his job."

"Besides . . . he's cute." I had to laugh at Tanya's little add on.

"He drives like a maniac, though, I tell you." I grumbled and they laughed at me. "What?"

"Your truck is still at my house." Jess laughed and I nodded.

"And considering Charlie has my keys, it's going to be there for a while." Her face dropped and I nodded again. "He took my keys from my room this morning."

"Why didn't you call one of us for a ride instead of using the babysitter?" Tanya asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Because _Edward_," I made sure I said his name in the most sickeningly sweet way I possibly could and they smirked at my obvious dislike of him. "Decided he was going to commandeer my phone this morning. He said that I have to ride in with him and get picked up by him every day."

"Like that'll work." The two of them snorted – ladylike, aren't they – as I shook my head. Edward obviously hadn't been filled in on journeys to and from school.

After another moment or two, the bell signalling first class rang and we separated. I had English first whereas Jess had Bio and Tanya had History. I hated not being in the same class as either of my girls. I was on my own and it bugged me.

About fifteen minutes into the class the door opened and a small – and I mean _really_ small girl – walked in, looking slightly shy and unsure of herself. She had to be no taller than five foot, barely. Her pitch black hair was short, spiking around her shoulders in a style of organised disarray. She cautiously made her way across the classroom towards Mr. Berty's desk, handing him the obligatory 'new kid' slip before waiting for him to sign it.

"And why are you so late Miss Brandon?" He asked her, looking over his glasses in a disapproving manor. Bastard. Sure this might be one of the smaller schools in Seattle, but if you didn't know where you were going, you could still get lost.

"I, um, had to go and see Principle Greene." She explained in a small bell-like voice. "He was talking to someone, already so I had to wait." _Stupid Edward_. Now he was the cause of the new girl getting in trouble.

"Hmmm." He signed her slip and indicated at the empty desk next to me. She took the paper before turning around, her blue eyes glancing around nervously at the numerous pairs of eyes that were on her. "Miss Swan will explain the syllabus to you."

_Alrighty then. _Looks like I was helping the new girl out. That was fine by me. Meant I didn't have to listen to him drone on about whatever it was he was trying to get the class engaged in. Whatever it was, at eight thirty on a Monday morning, it's not going to happen.

She smiled at me as she sat down, placing her bag on the floor. We were sat at the back and Mr. Berty had given me permission to talk to her so to speak and as long as we were quiet, I knew that he wouldn't make a fuss. After all, I was just following his instructions.

"Hi." I smiled at her as she glanced around nervously, seeming uncomfortable about being watched. "I'm Bella."

"Alice." She said softly and her voice was even more beautiful up close. Mesmerising. "Is he always like that?"

"Pretty much." I smirked at where he was trying to explain '_The Waste Land' _by T.S Eliot. It wasn't working very well. "He hates it when people are late and interrupt his perfectly structured lectures. Not that anyone's listening in the first place, but it makes him feel important. I think the only reason you got away with it today is because you're new."

"I'll remember to be on time from now on, then." She chuckled lightly, biting her lip and looking towards the front again, probably worried we were going to get caught talking. And so what if we did?

"So . . . who was in the office?" I asked, wondering if it was in fact Edward she was waiting for, still wanting to know what he needed to see Greene for.

"I don't know." She shook her head, looking back at me. "He didn't say anything to me."

"What did he look like?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at Mr. Berty who was shooting me a look. I knew that he couldn't hear what we were saying and he _had_ told me to tell her the syllabus, hadn't he?

"Um . . . he was tall, pale . . . but then again that's kind of a given for people around here, isn't it?" She smiled and I nodded, unable to stop the smile that spread across my own lips. But then again, I don't think Edward was from around here. I'd have to ask Charlie about that. "Um . . ."

"What colour was his hair?" I asked, knowing that if she said something generic, it wasn't Edward. His hair was an odd colour. Bronze? Copper? Something like that, anyway.

"It was kind of a brown with like . . . red bits in it. I don't know how to explain it. Um . . ." She thought for a moment before turning to face me. "You know the colour of a penny?" I nodded, feeling the smirk appearing on my face. "That colour."

"I know who you're talking about." I sighed and she tilted her head, clearly interested. "His name's Edward. My dad's enlisted him as my babysitter."

"Babysitter?" She was clearly confused as her eyes regarded me, clearly wondering.

"Well, I guess the term is 'bodyguard'." I rolled my eyes at the sentiment it posed. "Like I need one. He started on Saturday and came in to talk to Greene today."

"Why?"

"I have no idea." I sighed, letting out a small chuckle. "I just want him gone."

"Why?" She leaned on her hand, smiling at me. "He was kinda cute."

"You know, you're the third person to say that to me today." I chuckled and she shrugged.

"Must be true, then." I thought I caught a slight hint of something in her expression. Not something I was sure of and couldn't place, but that slightly _off_ feeling was gone as quickly as it appeared.

The bell rang just then and everyone started packing up their things. As I threw my bag over my shoulder, I turned to Alice. "What have you got now?"

"Um . . ." She took her schedule out of her pocket and scanned it. "Biology with Mr. Banner."

"Me too." I grinned at her, holding out my arm so she could link hers through. "Come on, I'll show you where it is."

We walked and talked, and as it turned out Alice was a hyperactive little thing. She had moved into town with her older half brother, Jasper, after her parents had been killed in a car crash. It was amazing how she didn't even flinch when talking about it, but I recognised the wall that went up as she explained her sudden arrival at the school in the middle of a semester. It must have been hard for her. Hell, I had had a hard time dealing and I had only lost my mother. I couldn't imagine losing Charlie as well. I'd do anything to stop that from happening.

"_And finally, when you give up the attitude and start to consider how every little thing you do affects your father. . . "_

Maybe that's what Edward had meant.

I knew that Charlie had been hurt by my mother's death. He had been devastated and at since become extremely protective of me. I knew he felt responsible for my mother's death.

Was I driving Charlie into an early grave as well?

The rest of the day passed in a complete blur. As it turned out, Alice had all of the same classes as me. What a fluke was that? Well, at least I had someone I liked in all of my classes.

Lunch had been lunch. I told Alice that she would be sitting with me at my table and the others absolutely loved her. I think she and James had even started swapping fashion tips by the end of the forty minute break. God, he was such a girl sometimes.

By the end of the day, nothing that sunk in and I knew that I would have to grab notes from someone, because I sure as fuck hadn't taken any. I could see Alice looking at me strangely, wondering if I was okay. I flashed her a brief smile as we sat in History, our last class of the day. I had half an hour or so left of today and I still had yet to figure out how I was going to get past Edward at the end of the day.

I knew that he would be waiting out the front of the school for me and I wouldn't be able to sneak past him if he was. I mean, he had been waiting outside for me yesterday morning. How the hell had he done that? What? Did he have some kind of super human hearing or something? And how had he gotten outside without passing me on the way down?

I _would_ figure it out.

But right now, I had to figure out how I was going to get past him today.

And the answer came to me five minutes later in the form of a text from James.

_-B_

_Woods? Ten minutes?_

_-J_

I looked around quickly, making sure that no one had noticed my phone out. Nobody had, so I texted him back quickly.

_-J_

_On my way._

_-B_

I waited a couple of minutes before procuring a bathroom pass and sneaking out of the building all Mission Impossible style. I had glanced out of one of the windows that allowed a view of the front of the school and the parking lot, breathing a sigh of relief when I noticed that Edward was not waiting for me, as of yet. Something told me he would be all over my ass if he had been.

I made my way out of the building, and towards the woods out the back of the school. Winding my way through the roots and shit that I knew were specifically designed to make me fall on my ass, I found James, sitting on a little stump he always sat on when we snuck away.

He had already rolled a joint which I knew would be full of his best stuff and was in the process of lighting it as I sat down. He always used the good stuff when it was just the two of us.

"Take your time." He joked and I rolled my eyes at him.

"You got your car with you?" I asked and he nodded, taking a hit before passing the joint and lighter to me. I took a hit, revelling in the scent and the slight burn of the smoke as it travelled down my throat. "Good. I got a feeling Edward's gonna turn up and I'm gonna have to be extra sneaking getting around him."

"Asshole." James sneered, taking the joint back off me as I slid off the stump and settled on the ground. Who gives a fuck about dirty jeans?

A few hits later and I was feeling sufficiently buzzed, laughing at James as he fell off the stump he was sitting on.

"What time is it?" I asked, looking at my own watch, my eyes widening when I sat that it was only five past three. We had only been out here fifteen minutes.

"Time for you to get your ass in the car." Came a voice from behind me and I stood up as quickly as I could, turning to face Edward as he stood there. "Move. Now." _Oh, shit. He's pissed._ "You got that right?" _Did I say that out loud? Oops._

"Hey, dude." James stood up, trying to face off with Edward as he stood there, trying to match his size. Unfortunately for James that was not happening. "She doesn't have to listen to what you want her to do. You don't _own_ her."

"It seems that neither of you understand my place in her life." He looked down at James with an obvious distaste that made me want to hit him. "When her father is not around, what I say goes. The sooner you and your little friends understand that, the simpler everything will be. Now, unless you want to explain to the Chief what you're doing out here with illegal substances, I'd suggest you _move_, Isabella."

"It's Bella." James shot back and Edward chuckled, his gold eyes glittering in the limited sunlight.

"We've already had this conversation." He clicked his tongue lightly, staring at me. "Now, move."

I shot James a look that told him not to argue as I walked past him. Edward turned as I approached him and I caught a glimpse of something on his neck, just below his right ear. It was a tattoo. It was tiny though, not really something you'd show off at all. But it intrigued me. It was a tiny 'v' with one of the points looping around to make an 's'. Kind of like the Capricorn sign. How had I not noticed that before?

Did it mean something?

I wordlessly followed him back to his car, not putting up any argument as he opened the door, indicating he wanted me to get inside. He locked the doors as he strode into the school, leaving me wondering what on earth he was doing. When he returned minutes later with my bag, it was clear. He unlocked my door, getting inside and placing my bag on my lap.

"Thank you." I mumbled softly, putting my seatbelt on. I remembered the journey from this morning and knew I did not want to relive the terror I'd felt at his driving.

We made it home in less than ten minutes and complete silence. I didn't know what to think about this forceful, silent Edward. Whereas the cocky asshole that had been living in my house for the last two days annoyed and aggravated me no end, this Edward unnerved me. Now I could see why Charlie had hired him.

He scared me.

"Take a shower before Charlie gets home." He said quietly, forcefully. "You stink of weed."

With that he exited the car and waited for me to do the same before locking it and making his way into the house. He had disappeared by the time I reached the kitchen, which I thought was mere seconds after the door had closed, but clearly I had been wrong, because he was nowhere to be seen. I didn't even hear the door to his apartment close as I had been expecting.

I made my way over to the fridge and grabbed myself something to eat before making my way towards the stairs. I couldn't help but watch Edward's door and listen for any kind of movement behind it as I made my way into my bedroom. I knew that Charlie thought he was being smart and sneaky when he'd had the apartment fitted across the hallway from mine, but I'd known why. It was in case he ever had to go away for any length of time and I would be left on my own. He wanted my current babysitter to always have direct access to me.

Sorry, Charlie. Not as sneaky as you'd thought.

After sitting on my bed for a few minutes, munching on the granola bar I'd swiped, I decided to take Edward's advice and take a shower. I stripped off as I made my way towards my en suite, turning on the shower as I pulled my hair out of the ponytail it was in before stepping underneath the hot spray. The water pressure wasn't as harsh as it normally was, so I surmised that Edward must be taking one as well.

After spending around twenty minutes or so underneath the water, I turned it off and climbed out. The water pressure had increased about half way through, so I guessed Edward had finished his shower. I grabbed one of the fluffy towels off the rail and wrapped it around myself, using another one for my hair. The effects of the weed I'd had not an hour ago had dissipated with Edward's abrupt appearance and I found that was another thing I was pissed at him for. He seemed to have a talent for ruining my fun times. First the party on Saturday and today with James, not to mention yesterday morning.

Maybe Charlie had just hired him to irritate me.

After dressing in some loose sweats and sweater I made my way downstairs to find Edward in the kitchen, looking over something that looked like paperwork.

"What's that?" I asked, moving to stand in front of him.

He glanced up at me, before looking back down at the papers before shaking his head. "Nothing."

"Oh." I looked around for something to do whilst thinking about something to say. I figured that he might be around for a while, considering none of my other babysitters had managed to find my hiding spot with James, and they would _never_ have found me so quickly. It would have taken them hours to track me down to whatever house I'd ended up at and it had taken Edward less than ten minutes.

Guess I underestimated him.

"Would you like something to eat?" I asked, hoping it would be seen as a kind of goodwill gesture. "I mean, I was going to make something for dinner and wanted to know if you wanted something."

"Not planning on poisoning me, are you?" He asked, a tint of humour in his tone.

"Not today." I replied, smiling slightly at the ease that had settled over us in this brief instant.

"Then, yes, thank you." He looked up at me, his golden eyes dancing and I found myself unable to look away, feeling drawn in and powerless to break whatever spell he held over me in that instant. "Charlie's not in this evening. It's just the two of us."

I blinked a couple of times, shaking my head, trying to clear it as he chuckled lightly. "How do you know that?"

"He came home earlier." He informed me, placing a hand on the papers in front of him, shielding them from me. I wondered what he had going on there and if it was something that could get him in trouble with a certain Police Commissioner he happened to be living with at the moment. "Told me he wouldn't be back until later on tonight. He's spending the evening with someone called Billy." He raised an eyebrow at me and I nodded, indicating I knew who that was.

"Billy Black." I looked down at the table, noticing his hand still splayed out over the papers. "He and Charlie have been friends since forever. Billy's son Jake and I grew up together."

He nodded in understanding before going back to whatever he was doing before I walked in. It seemed important, so I couldn't bring myself to be pissed that he was essentially ignoring me. Something told me that he was paying attention to my movements as well.

That was slightly unnerving.

"What did you want to eat?" I asked, moving towards the pantry where I looked for something to eat quickly.

"Whatever you feel like making is fine by me." I heard him say from the kitchen.

"So . . ." I made my way back so I was standing in the doorway that separated the kitchen from the pantry. "If I told you I felt like making hotdogs with paprika and gummi worms, you'd be alright with that."

He chuckled lightly – and I took that moment to marvel in what an amazing sound it actually was – turning on the chair he was sitting in to look at me. "Isabella, I can guarantee you, that whatever you can cook up in that little mind of yours: I've had worse."

He might have been smirking at me, but the hard look in his eyes told me that he wasn't joking. His eyes were cold and guarded as he turned back around and I saw the small tattoo again. It was much more visible now that he had changed into a t-shirt and smart jeans, the deep black of the ink standing out against his pale skin.

I rummaged around in the pantry, grabbing some pasta noodles and ingredients for macaroni cheese, balancing it all and making my way back into the kitchen. I grabbed a few pans out of the cupboards, setting water on to boil before making a cheese sauce.

"I like your tattoo." I said quietly as I measured out ingredients for the sauce. I saw him stiffen lightly as he heard my words before he closed his eyes, his jaw clenched. "Does it mean anything?"

"Nothing for you to be concerned about." The way he said it made it seem like it _was_ something to be concerned about. It must have meant something. And something not so good.

Maybe he'd lost a bet or something and it was a sore spot for him. But Edward didn't seem the type to lose a bet, or even _make _a bet he knew there was the slightest chance of losing. Was it kind of a brand or something? The placement of it, obvious and in your face, it made it seem like it could be.

But that begged the question: why would he have a brand of some kind on him?

"What are you thinking about over there?" His voice jolted me out of my musing as I turned to face him. "You're quiet."

"Oh, really?" _Shit! Think of something_. "I was just thinking about a new girl at school today."

"Oh yeah?" Was he actually interested or just keeping me entertained so I wouldn't try and sneak off somewhere? I was feeling quite wiped, so I would be going anywhere tonight anyway. Not that I'd get past Roboguard here.

"Yeah. Her name's Alice. She's just moved here from Mississippi with her half brother." I felt my heart go out to her again as I remembered _why_ she'd moved here. "Her parents were killed in a car crash a couple of weeks ago and she had to move here with him. Jasper, I think his name is." I turned to face him, even though he wasn't facing me. Not really anyway. "You made her late for English."

"Whoops." He muttered sarcastically, but there was something I couldn't place on his face. Just like on Alice's earlier during first period. Man, I was getting shit at reading people these days.

"Don't act like you're sorry." I muttered and he chuckled.

"Who said I was." I rolled my eyes at him as I turned around, finishing up with dinner. I hoped it tasted alright. I hadn't cooked for anyone besides Charlie in a while. All of the others politely refused my cooking, probably thinking that I was going to poison them or something. _But then again, that had been Edward's first question._ I sighed gently as I drained the noodles. _But he didn't run off when you suggested it as the others had done. He stayed._

After finishing up, I picked up the two plates and turned around. I cleared my throat and Edward cleared away the papers in front of him.

"Thank you, Isabella." He said softly as I handed him some cutlery. He stuffed the papers he had been looking at into a manila folder and placed it beside him.

"Can you please call me Bella?" I pleaded, hating my full name.

"You've not earned it, yet." He replied cryptically taking a bite of his dinner. I bit my lip, hoping it tasted alright.

"Is it okay?" I asked, hearing the trepidation in my own voice.

"The best macaroni and cheese I've ever tasted." He replied with a smile and I felt myself relax.

"Sorry, I don't really cook for anyone other than myself or Charlie." I admitted, taking a bite of my own.

"You didn't cook for the others?" I shook my head, letting my hair fall down in front of my face. "Why not? I can't really see anyone passing up food tasting like this."

"I guess they were afraid I was going to poison them or something." He let out a chuckle as I spoke. "I wouldn't, even though there were a couple that probably warranted it. None of them ever tried my food."

"Or maybe it's because they weren't around long enough to." He chuckled and I glared at him. "It's true. Your father hired your first bodyguard when you were fifteen, right?" I nodded. "And you're seventeen now. You've had seventeen bodyguards in the last two years, excluding me." He added on as I opened my mouth. Damn. "That's one roughly every month and a half. I know some of them lasted longer than others and there've been a few days in between each where you haven't had one, but most don't have that many in their entire lifetimes."

"Yeah, well most don't have an overbearing father." I muttered and he sighed, shaking his head.

"You would be if you had lost the one you love in such a brutal fashion." He replied softly and I nodded, remembering what it was like when Charlie told me she wasn't coming back. Whenever I thought back to that day, I tried remembering the better things. When Charlie was alive and happy. The way my mom used to make him smile all the time. When she used to wind him up about the silliest little things.

I would treasure those memories.

"_You should feel lucky to have the memories you, your mother and your father shared while she was still here. Memories of who she was and what she was like and of who your father was before she died. The man he used to be. Because not all of us are that privileged."_

What had Edward meant by that last comment? Some people weren't privileged enough to have memories of their loved ones or something? Like amnesia or something like that?

I glanced over at Edward who seemed to be paying attention to me, but not, as it were. It was like he always had split attention. How could he do that?

Was he talking about himself when he made that comment? He had said 'not all of _us_' so maybe he had.

"Edward?" I asked, cautiously and his eyes narrowed at me, clearly sensing my tone. "What did you mean the other day when you said that not everyone is privileged enough to hold onto their memories?"

He looked away from me, his expression tight and his lips pursed. It looked as though he was silently berating himself for saying anything like that at all.

"It was nothing. A remark indicating no one in particular." He replied, his tone cold and I knew that he didn't want to discuss the subject any further.

I placed my fork down on my plate, knowing that I wouldn't be able to eat anything more. "I don't believe you." I whispered and his eyes shot up to mine. They were blazing with anger as he glared at me.

"It was nothing of importance." He answered quietly, his voice clipped and harsh in the silence that permeated the house.

"If it wasn't then you wouldn't have said anything." I argued and he closed his eyes slowly, letting breath out through his nose. "It's true, though. If it didn't matter, then you wouldn't have said it." I knew I was right and I was going to get it out of him. "Would you?"

"Do you have no filter at all?" He asked, his voice calm and collected as he opened his eyes. His voice was the biggest contrast to what was going on in his eyes I had ever seen. They were blazing, alight with a fire and anger I hadn't ever seen in anyone before, the colour seemed to shimmer with the emotion coursing through them. "Do you not know when to stop talking?"

I physically moved away from him at his words. What the hell was he talking about?

"I'm sorry." I whispered and he laughed. A dangerous sound emanating from within him and I knew to be scared.

"You're sorry?" He asked me, his tone mocking. "You're sorry because you know you've crossed a line. One you will not cross again. Understand me now, Isabella. Who I am or what I've done before I set foot in this household is no business of yours. Do you understand?" I nodded quickly before sliding out of my chair and running up the stairs.

I slammed my bedroom door shut and clicked the lock in place, knowing that that feeble thing would probably have no effect on Edward if he really wanted to get in here. I was sure that he wouldn't do anything to physically harm me, but hell, he didn't seem too stable right about now. I wasn't sure of what he would do. I just had to hope that he wouldn't hurt me.

I sat on my bed, hoping that I hadn't pissed him off too badly when I heard his slow, deliberate footsteps making their way down the hallway. He stopped outside my door, well, most likely trying to get into his apartment above the garage, rather than my room. I heard his door click closed and lay down on my side.

I had to calm down. Sure he might have scared me downstairs, but wasn't that his job? To keep me out of trouble. He was probably just using scare tactics against me, right? I didn't know what to think about Edward. He was such an enigma. One I didn't think I had the energy to work out properly.

But I was going to try.

Oh hell, was I going to try.

What are you hiding Edward Masen?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: Anything to do with Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just borrowing the characters for a little fun.**_

_**Some of you have asked me for some of the ages, so here they are.**_

_**Bella: 17**_

_**Edward: 22**_

_**Alice: 22**_

_**Jasper: 23**_

_**Charlie: 47**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**Edward**_

If you asked me what it was, I would tell you I had no idea, but there was something about Isabella Swan that gave me the inability to shut the hell up.

She had caught my slip about the memories the other day and it was clear that she knew I was hiding something. Well, I'll be damned if she'll find it. There's nothing that would lead her to ascertain the truth, no matter how close she thought she was.

Thankfully, I had her scared now.

She was up in her bedroom, having just run up there after my little outburst. I could hear her heart thundering and her shallow breathing as I made my way up the stairs. As I unlocked the door to my apartment, I made sure to keep an ear out for Isabella's movements. Her heartbeat indicated that she was across the room from the door, most likely cowering on her bed at this moment in time. It wouldn't surprise me.

She had flown out of the kitchen with a speed I'd thought I'd never see from her.

Slipping into my apartment, I didn't bother to turn on the light as I navigated my way throughout the rooms, my eyes not needing the extra aid.

"Alice." I murmured gently, careful not to make any more noise than necessary.

"Edward." She sighed, placing her feet on the ground. She turned on the sofa that she was sitting on and I turned on the light, purely for appearances.

"What's the matter?" I sat down next to her and she rested her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her and she melted into me. "Hey, what's going on?"

"I don't know." She sighed gently, shaking her head against me. "I just . . . I wonder why Jazz puts up with me most of the time."

"Why do you say that?" I looked down at her, wondering where this downer Alice had come from. Normally she was happy and light, her bubbly personality making up for the years of hell we had experienced side by side.

"Well, I move him several thousand miles because I can't bear to be away from him, making him leave everything behind and now I'm failing at the job you've asked me to do." She looked up at me, her eyes golden once again, having removed the contacts from earlier on. "Was I always this crap?"

"What are you talking about? You were the best." I pulled her closer to me, feeling protective of her now that she was feeling vulnerable.

"No, that would be you. You were always her favourite." I closed my eyes, feeling ill as a shiver ran down my spine at the thought of . . . _her_. "I'm sorry, but it's true. You were."

"Well, if you don't remind me, then I will be eternally grateful." She giggled slightly, knowing it creeped me out to think of how things had been. Well, that might have been an understatement. Okay, _definitely_ an understatement. "And Jazz stays with you because he loves you. He'd do anything for you, Ali. Just like you'd do anything for him."

"I don't understand why, though." She shook her head, sitting up slightly. "And it's like . . . he'll get fussy over little things. It's like, if some random guy looks at me in a way he doesn't like, or someone says something, he won't let me look after myself – which he knows I can do, by the way – and he just . . . I don't know." She let her head drop into her hands, glaring at me as I chuckled slightly. "What the hell is so funny?"

"Don't you see?" It really was the most obvious thing in the world. "Let me put it this way, Alice. The male ego can be a very fragile thing." Her brows furrowed slightly. "He's feeling threatened because you're physically stronger than him. Don't worry about it. Let him throw his weight around a bit. It'll make him feel better."

"I will never understand men." She shook her head slightly as I grinned at her, shaking my head in a signal to not even try.

"Anyway, what's this about you failing at the job I asked you to do?" I asked her, completely serious. Did she think she was failing because Bella managed to slip away? Despite her heightened senses, speed and strength, Alice is at a disadvantage to Bella. Alice has no experience of high school, whereas Bella knows the teachers, the buildings and the surrounding areas like the back of her hand. It's going to take a couple of days for Alice to get used to that.

"Well, the fact that she managed to get away from me earlier-"

"Means nothing." I cut her off, ignoring her scowl. I explained to her the thought processes I'd just had concerning Alice, Bella and high school. She nodded along, seeming to understand where I was coming from on that one, but not truly believing she couldn't have predicted Bella was going to run off. It wasn't as though she was a psychic or something as ludicrous as that.

We sat and talked for a little while, catching up. While I had been moving from place to place as I tended to, Alice and Jasper had taken up a permanent residence in New York City. At least they were in a place filled with a few million people. Even if they were tracked there, it would take them a while to narrow it down, giving Alice the time to get Jasper packed up and the both of them to safety.

The two of us were on the constant lookout for anyone that could jeopardise our freedom and we'd only had to move sharpish twice. Once for her when she was in Biloxi, Mississippi and once for me when I had been staying in Chicago. Someone had caught wind that I was there and I'd managed to pack up everything I owned and wipe down the entire apartment I'd been staying in for prints in under an hour. Not bad going if you ask me.

"Anyway, I better go." She sighed after a while. I glanced at the clock, seeing that it was just after midnight. "Jasper'll be getting worried." I nodded, squeezing her tiny body against me for a moment longer. I hated saying goodbye to her. It always seemed like it was the last time I was going to see her.

But then again, it very well could be.

"I might see you later." She added on with a smile, a mischievous glint in her eye as she made her way over to the window. The same window I had used to meet her and apprehend James and obviously the same window she had gotten through earlier on in the evening.

"How come?" I asked, feeling my brow furrow. If all went well, she would be in school with Bella later on, so I wasn't sure how that happened.

"I'm going to convince Bella that she wants me to come round for dinner tonight." She giggled and I chuckled, shaking my head. The little fey could get whatever she wanted out of anyone. "Oh, and in case that happens, Jazz is my half brother."

"Gotcha." I nodded, remembering Bella 'telling me' about the new girl Alice and her half brother Jasper. "Parents killed in a car crash, right?"

"How'd you know?" She feigned shock, giggling lightly. _There's_ the Alice I know and love so much.

"Well, that Bella can't keep her mouth shut." I sighed, shaking my head in mock disappointment. I pulled her into my arms, squeezing her tightly to me. "Stay safe, little one."

"You too, brother." She whispered back, releasing me and jumping nimbly out of the window, landing with barely a sound. She sped across the gardens and was over the fence before the cameras even had a chance to pick her up. Being fast had its advantages.

The rest of the night passed in a dull monotonous kind of way. Charlie came back around midnight, attempting to be quiet as he made his way through the front door and up the stairs to his bedroom. I heard him pause at the end of the corridor that was home to Isabella's room and my apartment.

I made my way downstairs at around five o'clock, after having had no sleep and barely a two hour doze. Most nights, sleeping was something that evaded me. I didn't fall to sleep often and when I did, it was a limited experience.

I'd had enough foul experiences when asleep, so I didn't let it happen to me very often.

"Morning, Edward." I heard Charlie grumble as he made himself a cup of coffee behind me.

"Good morning." He grunted at me, probably wondering how I could be so awake at a time like this. "Not awake this morning?"

"Got in a little later than I'd expected." He chuckled lightly, taking a sip of his coffee. "How was Bella yesterday?"

"No more difficult than I expected her to be." I smiled at him, shaking my head slightly. "She tried to pull a disappearing act after school, but she didn't get very far."

"You know," he sighed, making his way towards me, "when I first hired you, I wasn't too sure that I'd made the right decision. But even though you've only been here a couple of days, I can see that I've never made a better decision for Bella. I wanted her kept safe and it seems that you're the one guy who can do that. It's just a shame that it took me so long to dial your number."

"And who knows how many trips to the psychiatrists you could have saved previous employees." I chuckled, hearing him laugh slightly.

"True." He nodded, gulping his coffee down. "I've still got her keys at my office in case she wants to know."

"She knows I'm taking her to and picking her up from school from now on." I nodded, taking a sip of my own drink. "Let's just say after yesterday, she won't be arguing that fact."

"I'm not sure I want to know." I shook my head, indicating that he really didn't want to know.

He left fifteen minutes later, muttering a hasty 'goodbye' as I sat at the breakfast bar.

Isabella didn't stir until around seven climbing out of bed quietly and padding across her bedroom towards what was undoubtedly her en suite. I wondered if she believed that if she was quiet, I wouldn't realise she was awake. Unfortunately that's not how it works, Isabella.

She came down at around eight o'clock, watching me cautiously as she made her way across the kitchen. She kept glancing at me as she moved, clearly watching me for any movements.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked quietly, smirking internally as she jumped at the sound of my voice. She was still on edge from last night and that was – in my personal opinion – the best way for her to be.

"Yes." She squeaked quietly before clearing her throat and grabbing her bag off of the table in front of her. "Um . . ."

"What?" I turned to look at her and she stepped away from me. I wasn't sure if you could see my actions as being threatening in any way, but it was clear from the way she looked at me, she was remembering the way I had spoken to her last night.

Maybe the message that I wasn't one to piss off was finally getting through.

"I need to go shopping after school." I raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what she was getting at. "I need to go to the Thriftway. We're running low on groceries." I nodded, opening the door and following her outside.

She was quiet on the way to school, her fingers gripping the material of her jeans as we sped down the road. "I'll meet you at three. Right here." I raised an eyebrow at her and she nodded, not meeting my eye.

"I was thinking of inviting Alice over after school." She said timidly and I could barely contain my smirk. It looked like the little pixie didn't have to work as hard as she thought. "You're not going to apprehend her, are you?"

"Not unless she decides to sneak onto the property in the middle of the night." I smirked at her, enjoying the fact that she had don't just that without anyone realising. "No, I'm not."

"Good." She sighed, wrapping her fingers around the handle, looking at me through her lashes. "I'll see you at three."

She slid out of the car, closing the door quietly before walking away from the vehicle and towards the school. I spied Alice climbing out of her ostentatious canary yellow Porsche and gave her a small wink. She grinned at me before running towards Bella, latching onto her. The pixie knew how to play her role, I'll give her that. Glancing at the car she had climbed out of once more, I shook my head before making my way back towards the house.

Making my way back into the house I thought back to last night in the kitchen. It had started out pleasant enough. She had offered to make dinner, which had been more enjoyable than I had expected. Who knew that the rebellious teenager could cook? I hadn't been kidding when I told her it was the best macaroni cheese I'd ever had. It most definitely was.

And then she had to go and mention the fucking brand on my neck. In all honesty, I had been expecting her to notice it a lot sooner than that, but it still pissed me off at her mention. It was there, in plain sight, just as they'd wanted it to be. They wanted it made clear that no one doubted where we came from. It was their way of making sure we knew who we belonged to.

I pulled out my phone, sending Alice a quick message informing her of the fact that Isabella had noticed my mark and to keep hers hidden. She had the same mark in the same position – as we all did – and if Isabella noticed it on me, she certainly would on Alice, given half the chance. Thankfully, Alice's hair was most likely to cover it up.

She messaged back an affirmative on the concealing of her mark, stating that she'd covered it with stage make-up. Only Alice.

I spent the day sorting out paperwork on the sale of my apartment. I'd had it sitting there for too long and needed to get rid of it pretty sharpish, lest I leave a lingering trail. Of course, I hadn't used my real name – not that I knew what that was – so it wouldn't trace back to me.

I made my way back to the school when the time needed. Sitting outside of the school, I rested my head on the seat, wondering how on earth I had come to this. Sitting outside of school waiting for a seventeen year old.

Thankful when the bell went and students started piling out and into their cars.

"Come on, Bells!" I heard Alice's tinkling laugh as the two of them made their way down the steps towards where I was sitting. At least she had been true to her word and come out at the right time. "You can't tell me that you don't think he's cute."

"Are you kidding me?" I heard another girl laughing, noticing a blonde and a girl with frizzy brown hair. "He's gorgeous and you get to _live with him_!"

I let out a chuckle, knowing that they were now talking about me. Either that or they were talking about Charlie, and I didn't see that happening anytime soon.

I could see her blush as she approached the car and I couldn't help but chuckle again as she climbed in. "What are you laughing about?"

"Nothing." I shook my head, starting the engine. "Your little friend still coming over?"

"Yeah, she'll be around about six." She said softly, glancing at me, her blush resurfacing before she looked away and out the window. "I still need to go to the Thriftway."

"Which one?" I asked, pulling out into the steady traffic that lead away from the school.

"Um . . . Boulevard Park. I know where everything is in that one." She smiled at me shyly.

"So how come you go to the Thriftway when you can clearly afford to get everything from private stores?" I asked, breaking away from traffic and pulling into the parking lot at the Thriftway Isabella had mentioned.

"I don't know." She answered quietly, shrugging her shoulders. "I just like coming here, that's all."

What with the time of year, it was already getting dark when I parked the car and climbed out, waiting for Isabella to do the same. When I heard her door slam shut, I locked the car and met her on the other side, walking with her into the store.

Sensing something moving to my right, I slowed, stopping outside the store. Glancing to my right, I spotted someone moving in the darkness that surrounded the glaring light that emanated from the doors to the Thriftway. It was someone believing that they were cloaked in the darkness surrounding the store. I noted the person in question was not a civilian. At least he was not dressed as one. He was looking for something . . . someone and I knew exactly what he was looking for.

Me.

I stopped just out of his sight, causing Isabella to stop as well. She gave me a curious look, clearly wondering what the holdup was.

"What's the matter?" She asked quietly, glancing around at the people walking around us. "Everything alright?"

"You carry on." I nodded into the store. "I left something in the car. I'll meet you inside."

"What?" She looked incredibly confused at what I was telling her to do.

"I'll meet you inside in a few minutes." I gave her a small smile and she relaxed slightly. She turned slowly and made her way into the store. As soon as she had been engulfed in the bright lights of the store, grabbing a trolley and disappearing down one of the aisles I moved away from the door and into the shadows at my right.

I could hear the individual's heavy breathing and slightly panicked movements at my disappearance and knew immediately that he had been here to track me down. I knew I had stayed in one place too long. The time to move on having long since come and passed.

Doubling back and sneaking up behind him, I saw the uniform that I would recognise even if I had my eyes closed. _She_ had sent him. And there was no way he was going to have the opportunity to report back to her.

He didn't even so much as flinch as I wrapped one hand around his chin, placing the other on the back of his head, turning sharply, hearing his neck snap with a resounding crack. He simply didn't have the time. He slumped immediately, falling into my arms quietly. I glanced around, noting that for how full the store seemed, the parking lot was deserted. Strange, but it worked in my favour.

Looking above me, I noted a security camera approximately twelve feet up. I dropped the body on the ground and latched onto the brickwork. Scaling the wall quickly, I disconnected the wire that connected the power to the camera, hearing the near silent whirring as it captured the images in its vicinity cease as the machinery itself stopped moving. Dropping back to the ground, I glanced around again, waiting for a young mother to load her two children and shopping into the car and make their way out of the parking lot before I lifted the body onto my shoulders, opening the trunk of my car as I made my way at a speed no one would be able to track towards it.

Upon slamming the trunk closed, I turned back to the store to find a horde of people coming out. It seems that five seconds or so later in my efforts and they would have been for nothing.

I made my way into the store, glancing around for Isabella, walking so I could see down the aisles. As I did so, I texted Alice, telling her to be on the lookout and more aware of who was around her.

Spotting Isabella, I made my way towards her quickly. She looked as though she was deep in thought about what kind of cereal to buy. Both looked disgusting to me.

"Don't get either of them." I suggested quietly, making her jump and drop one of the boxes. Catching it, I handed it back to her, smirking lightly at the indignant look on her face.

"Why not?" She raised an eyebrow at me, a small smirk on her face.

"Because they're both nothing but additives, colorants and chemicals with no nutritional value whatsoever." I shrugged and she looked back down at the two of them.

"But they taste good." She whined in a childlike voice, her eyes wide and imploring. It reminded me of how young she really was.

"What's the point of them tasting good when they destroy your mouth?" I asked rhetorically and she looked back down at them again.

She sighed gently and placed them back on the shelf, turning back to the shopping cart in front of her. "Anything you want?" She asked, turning to look at me.

"Not from here." I could feel my nose wrinkling at the smells lingering in the air, permeating through their cardboard casings. Never before had I realised how foul cereal actually was. Even those that claimed to be whole grain and nothing but. Still smelled vile.

"Anything you _do_ want?" She took hold of the handle on the cart, pushing it forward gently. "Like for tonight or something?"

"Are you cooking again?" I asked, walking beside her, shoving my hands in my pockets as I walked.

"Yeah." She nodded sadly, looking away from me.

"What's the matter?" I asked, truly concerned. Shocker, I know.

"I just got a text from my Dad." She sighed stopping and looking up at me. "He's working late again."

"Isn't that normal?" I shrugged, keeping step with her as she started moving again.

"He hasn't been working as much as he used to. Not lately anyway." She shook her head, reaching out and grabbing a box of Pop Tarts off the shelf. She shrugged at my raised eyebrow, a sheepish smile appearing on her face. "They're my Saturday morning breakfast. I figure if I have to eat a decent breakfast every weekday morning, I can eat crap at the weekend."

"I don't think that's how it works." I chuckled and she grinned alongside me.

"Well, it does in 'Bella's Book of Diets'." She nodded proudly, grabbing another box and sticking her tongue out at me. I couldn't help but laugh at her attitude. It seemed that she had gotten over her little fright this morning and was becoming more relaxed around me again. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing. "Apparently he's going to be working later from now on and won't really be home for dinner." She sounded as though their nightly ritual was something she was going to miss. I couldn't blame her. "I don't understand why."

"Maybe it's because now he knows that you're safe. He doesn't have to hover around the house to make sure you're alright." I shrugged and she looked up at me, an eyebrow raised.

"Think pretty highly of yourself, don't you?" There was a hint of humour in her tone as she smirked up at me.

"Do you doubt me?" I raised an eyebrow at her in return and she shook her head quickly. I knew that she didn't doubt me now. Especially after I'd found her yesterday in her little hidey-hole.

The rest of the shopping trip passed in relative silence and I bagged everything up while she paid for it. The girl at the cash desk kept glancing at me, trying to be seductive, hinting at how it was such a good thing for me to take my 'little sister' shopping. Let's just say, Isabella was incredibly short with her after that.

We piled the bags back into the cart and she wheeled it out. I grabbed the bags out of the cart, nodding for Isabella to place it back in one of the collection points throughout the lot, while I loaded the bags into the car. She looked mildly confused but did as I asked without argument. Instead of putting them in the trunk, I loaded them into the backseat.

"Why not put them in the trunk?" She asked as she climbed back into the car.

"I've still got some stuff I need to unload in there. Be lucky to fit the smallest bag in the trunk." I gave her a small smile and she shrugged lightly before looking back out the window. "What time did you say your friend was coming over?"

"Her name's Alice." She sighed, rolling her eyes at me. I knew that, obviously, but to Isabella, I was completely ignorant of her friends. "And six."

I nodded, noting that it was now half five. We would be home in around ten minutes meaning that we had twenty minutes before Alice arrived. We would have to be careful around Isabella. When with Alice it was far too easy to slip into old habits, just as we had at the diner the previous morning.

"What kind of car does she drive?" She turned to look at me as though I had gone mad and I rolled my eyes. "So I can make Howard aware that he's okay to let her in."

"Oh." She shook her head, undoubtedly not expecting my logical answer. "It's a bright yellow Porsche."

"Is that all you know?" I glanced at her as I pulled up to the gate, having it automatically open for me. She shrugged as I stopped and informed Howard of the car that Alice drove. He nodded and told me he'd phone up to the house anyway, just as a precaution. It seemed that our little excursion yesterday around the grounds had worked. He was becoming more picky about who was let in here.

"Are you eating with us tonight?" Isabella asked as we unloaded the car. Well, I took the bags out and handed some of them to her before closing the door and locking the car.

"Unless you have a problem with it." I made my way past her and into the kitchen.

"No. Not at all. It's just that, I'm not sure Alice will be comfortable. I mean, she's new in town, so I'm not sure how she'll react to my bodyguard eating with us." _You have no idea what's going on with Alice._

"I'm sure she'll be fine." I assured her and she nodded slowly.

"Lasagne alright with you?" She asked and I nodded. She grinned at me, before moving towards the pantry, gathering what she needed.

Alice arrived at six o'clock on the dot, Howard phoning from the security gate as he had informed me he would. I could see Alice's bright yellow car from the house and something told me I'd be able to even if I had the same level of sight as anyone else.

Isabella awkwardly 'introduced' us before taking Alice into the kitchen to get her help with preparing the meal. Nothing was said about my lack of assistance but I had the feeling Isabella thought that I would be in the way if I offered. So I stayed firmly out of it, situated at the breakfast bar, both girls in sight.

Alice winked at me when she knew that Isabella wasn't looking before looking upwards indicating my apartment. I lowered my head as Isabella turned around, making it look as though I was concentrating on the papers in front of me, knowing that Alice would see the concealed nod.

Dinner was just as it had been the previous night; apart from it was filled with Alice's inane chatter. According to her story, she had moved from Biloxi Mississippi – which was true – with her half brother – not true. The two of them lived in a small house a couple of blocks in the other direction from the school – true – and Jasper supported the two of them as a editor of various historical novels that were in progress – not true (he was a history teacher back in Biloxi). She told us – well, mostly Isabella considering I knew the real reason behind her coming to Washington – that the two of them couldn't stay in Mississippi, not with the pain of their parents death and he knew someone that could set him up with a nice little house for the two of them, cheap, so they had taken it.

Isabella drank it all in, her reactions exactly right as Alice regaled her with what her mother was like and how beautiful she was and how she would play with her father on the swings and roundabout in the park. All of this was what Alice wished she could remember of her childhood. Like me, Alice had no recollection of her past before the age of fifteen. It was something she found hard to accept.

Alice left at nine thirty, Isabella putting up a fight until I mentioned that Charlie would be home soon and probably wouldn't take too kindly to the fact that it was a school night and Isabella had a curfew on when she could have guests over. Nine thirty was the limit and Isabella knew it. She just didn't like it.

"You know, you'd think that as she grew older, her dad would ease up a little, wouldn't you?" Alice mused as I made my way into the apartment after Isabella had gone to bed. Of course, Alice had 'left', meaning that she had driven her bright yellow car back to the house she and Jazz were renting and run back here as quickly as possible.

"Well, as you've seen, she can be difficult." I shrugged, pulling a bottle of water out of the small fridge that was built into the wall. "So not all the time."

"There's something up with you." She leaned forward, a sneaky smile on her lips. It didn't reach her eyes because – as Alice always did – she knew that there was something wrong. Something like the body currently lying in the trunk of my car.

"One of them spotted me today." Her eyes widened as she froze before sitting up slowly. "Outside the Thriftway."

"Where is he now?" She asked, her tone cautious. She knew that I was never one to let one of _her_ spies go, especially not alive.

"In the trunk of my car." I stated simply and her jaw snapped shut. "I know, it's stupid not discarding the body as soon as possible, but I had Isabella with me. It wasn't like I could just ask her to wait while I find somewhere suitable to dump it."

"Well, we can't leave it in the trunk of your car." She laughed nervously, shaking her head. "I mean, you're living with a cop. How much more in the shit can you get? I know you couldn't let him go. Who knows what could have happened if you had. I mean, he could have told her about you, me, Jasper . . ." her voice broke as she mentioned Jasper, clearly not able to handle even the slightest notion of anything happening to him. "I mean, something could even happen to Charlie and Bella." I nodded, knowing that she was right.

I didn't feel any remorse about killing that man. Either I killed him or he reported back to _her_ and Alice and I were sent back to a purgatory worse than death. I couldn't handle it a second time. I couldn't go back. I _wouldn't_ go back.

All I had to worry about now was getting rid of his body. There was nowhere around here that we could dump him around here where he wouldn't resurface before the day was out.

"There's a small town by the coast." Alice mused, lost in her own thoughts. "Surrounded by cliffs."

"La Push?" I raised an eyebrow at her and she nodded. "That's four hours from here, Alice. There's no way that we can get there, dump him and get back before Charlie notices. And he's going to notice the car's gone."

"Well, it'll have to be tomorrow then, right?" She looked up at me, her eyes still blue from the contacts she was wearing. "I'll tell the school that I have to help Jasper and won't be in for the day and then we can set off. I can meet you at my house and we can go from there."

"In the middle of the day?" I sighed, running my hands through my hair. "It's risky, Alice. Incredibly risky. I mean, you know how tight knit these communities are."

"That's why our speed, strength, cunning and stunning good looks will get us out of any trouble." She smirked at me.

And it is that pixie smirk that left me making my way towards Alice's house after dropping Isabella off at school the next morning. She climbed in the car, a grin on her face as we sped off.

It was just over three hours later when we passed the 'Welcome to Forks' sign, having to go through the tiny town just to approach the borders of La Push.

"You need to change." Alice said suddenly, breaking the silence that had overcome the car two hours ago, neither of us feeling the need to fill it with music or mindless conversation. "No one's going to believe our story if you're dressed in a suit." She held out a bag and I took it, allowing her to take the wheel while I reclined the seat completely, sliding into the backseat as she slid into the drivers' seat.

I pulled out a plain black t-shirt, a thick black polo neck jumper, a pair of worn jeans – although they seemed to be brand new – a thick jacket and a pair of thick walking boots. I quickly changed before hopping back into the passenger's seat as we cleared the sign welcoming us to La Push. It was already eleven thirty, so we needed to be quick here, so that I could get back in time to collect Isabella from school as was planned.

We parked along the cemented area of the beach, thankful that there were no other vehicles around, and seemingly, no people either. Climbing out of the car, I noted that there was a steep trail that led up to the top of the cliffs. That should lead around to where the waves were more brutal as they hit the cliffs. _That _would be where we were dumping him.

I made my way around to the trunk of the car, while Alice kept a look out. I ripped the man's uniform off him, not wanting anything on him that could be traceable.

Leaving the corpse in nothing but his underwear, I ran the portable metal detector I had stashed in my car, over him the sensor not picking up on anything under the skin. It didn't mean that there wasn't anything there though. Unfortunately, Alice and I didn't have the time to search under the skin.

Hauling him over my shoulder, fighting against the rigor mortis that had occurred overnight, which made him that much more awkward to manoeuvre, Alice closed the trunk of my car and locked it. We sped towards the trail the both of us had spied that led up to the top of the cliff.

Pushing myself, I overtook Alice, wanting to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. Though it might not be detectable to human senses, this guy was starting to smell. We stopped at the top of the cliff, having travelled far enough so that we couldn't see the cliff anymore.

I looked at Alice before throwing the body over the side, the both of us watching as it tumbled towards the water, getting caught in the waves before disappearing below. We knew that it would resurface soon, but it was far enough away from Seattle for the authorities not to suspect anyone from around there. _She_ would know who killed her man, but that was something we would deal with when it came. We couldn't afford to have the local authorities on our asses as well.

I would just have to play ignorant when Charlie brought it up soon, as he no doubt would.

"Job done." I sighed and Alice nodded, her eyes still fixated on where he had disappeared under the waves.

We made our way back down the cliff slowly, taking our time. As we neared I noticed some locals standing close to the car. Not too close, but close enough to warrant a glare as I approached. Alice had given me the keys back after I had thrown the body, so I made my way towards the driver's side.

"This your ride?" One of them asked. He couldn't be more than sixteen at the most, his long hair flying in the wind.

"Yeah." I nodded, taking off my jacket and tossing it into the backseat.

"Must have set you back a pretty penny." He laughed lightly and I nodded. "I'm Jacob."

"Anthony." I answered in my programmed response. Even though I knew I stood out in the looks department – I mean, bronze hair and golden eyes are attributes you'd normally find in a person are they - I didn't want anyone to be able to name who I was. The same with Alice. "This is Mary." She smiled and wiggled her fingers lightly before ducking into the car.

"This is Embry and Paul." He indicated the two behind him who were still admiring the car. "So what brings you to La Push?"

"Just passing through." I gave him a tight smile before climbing into the car myself and placing the keys into the ignition. The three of them backed up slightly, still openly drooling over the car as I sped out of the area. It didn't take me long to get back onto the main road heading back to Seattle. Now all I had to do was get back to Seattle in time to take a quick shower and pick up Isabella and everything would be sorted.

All in a day's work, wouldn't you say?

_**Now, if you can tell me who 'she' is, I'll give you a sneak preview of the next chapter.**_


	6. Chapter 6

Walking out of school, I knew I'd made up my mind to do a little snooping on one Edward Masen. I knew he wasn't who he said he was. Well, actually, he hadn't said who he was, only that nothing about his life before he took the job for Charlie mattered anymore. At least, in his mind, it didn't matter to me.

Apart from the fact that it did.

It really did.

As usual he was sitting in his car, waiting for me to walk out, his eyes closely watching the door everyone had to walk out of to get out of the main entrance to the school. Sure there might have been woods surrounding it, but they were all fenced off. No one could get out of there. Well, I was sure Edward could, given half the chance. I wouldn't put it past him.

Climbing into the car I noticed the smell of fresh showergel, as though he'd had a shower within the last ten minutes or so. But his hair was completely dry. I decided to file it away for future reference.

"Any homework?" He asked as we walked into the house from the garage. I nodded, sitting down at the kitchen island, somehow knowing that he was going to insist I do it down here rather than up in my room. Charlie wouldn't have cared but something told me, Edward wasn't as unobservant as Charlie was when it came to the homework side of things.

When everything was finished on the homework side of things, I decided to quickly get out of dodge and made my way up to my room. I locked the door, not really thinking that it would do very much to keep Edward out but hopefully it would convey the message that I didn't want to be disturbed. I couldn't help but wonder what his reaction would be if he walked in to find me looking him up. Not that I really expected to find much on him. He seemed like a pretty elusive guy.

True to what I had expected, his search brought up nothing but a bunch of other people I knew nothing about, nor had any clue about, so I tried another tactic. I didn't know where he was from so I typed in 'Edward Masen, Seattle'.

Again, I didn't come up with anything I could use.

Sighing, I decided to scroll through what it had come up with anyway. You never know, it might yield something useful. Knowing where he came from would have been a good start._'Memories of who she was and what she was like and of who your father was before she died. The man he used to be. Because not all of us are that privileged.'_ Unfortunately, something told me that Edward wouldn't be much help in that area. I wasn't sure that even _he_ knew where he came from, based on his words from the other day.

I don't know how long I sat there, reading through endless pages of crap about wrinkly old billionaires or assholes that Edward just happened to share a name with before I clicked on a link near the bottom of the page. It was different to all the others. It wasn't about someone old or anything like that. It was about a boy.

A boy that had been kidnapped nearly eight years ago.

More than a little intrigued, I decided to read more about the boy. His name was Edward Cullen – the Edward was probably what brought the link up when I searched the name – and he had gone missing when he was fifteen. He had been on his way home from school in Forks – which was the tiniest blip on the radar of the United States – when he was snatched. All they found was his school bag. My heart went out to his parents, and from what it said in the article I was reading, older sister. They had no idea what had happened to him and he hadn't been seen or heard from again.

I sat back in my chair, letting out a breath, having severely bummed myself out. I did feel bad for his family. I wondered what Charlie would do if I ever disappeared. But then again, I guessed that was why he hired all of those goons to 'watch' me.

I scrolled down, wondering if there was a picture, knowing that he would be in his early twenties by now – probably twenty-two – and maybe wondering if he hadn't actually gone that far. Sometimes, they didn't. Sometimes these kids were taken and kept literally like, ten miles from their own home. But they weren't found until weeks or months later. If they were found at all.

There was a picture of him and it looked to have been taken at some kind of family gathering. I felt my jaw drop and my eyes widen when I saw the picture in front of me. I closed my eyes and shook my head before opening them again and being met with the same image.

The boy that had gone missing a mere four hours drive from where he was now living was sat down in my kitchen. What the hell was I supposed to do with that? How did I go about telling him I knew who he was? What if he was lying when he indicated that he didn't have any memories? What if he knew exactly who he was and hadn't been snatched but had run away instead, changing his name, not wanting to be found?

And how to I bring it up?

Do I just go and say, I know who you are?

Shit, this was hard.

I glanced up at the clock and saw that it was nearly six o'clock. I sighed, knowing that I would have to start dinner soon, unless Edward wanted to order in. I crinkled my nose in disgust at the thought of take-out. It had always made me feel sick. You never knew where something had been or who had been touching it. No. Better to make it myself. Besides, I'd probably have it cooked faster anyway.

Making my way downstairs I walked into the kitchen to see Edward reading through some papers across from where I had been doing my homework earlier. I looked at him closely, not knowing what to say now that I had found out who he really was.

"You've been quiet." I jumped at the sound of his voice, not expecting him to speak at all. "What have you been up to up there?"

"Um . . . research for a school project." My voice came out a lot calmer and more sure than I was feeling right now. He raised an eyebrow, probably wondering why there was no news to him of a project. "Set today." He nodded, looking back down at his papers.

"What's it about?" He asked, sounding casual. What was he getting at? Was he trying to appear as though he was mister nice guy or was he really just making conversation? I could never tell with this guy?

"Crime rates in the Pacific Northwest." I answered as I filled a saucepan with water to put on some pasta. "We were each given, like, um a specific area to work with."

"Area?"

"Yeah, you know, burglaries, murders, assaults, kidnappings, things like that." He raised an eyebrow again, clearly interested and wanted me to elaborate. "We have to determine how crime rates have changed over the last ten years and um . . ." This was where it got difficult.

"You're nervous about something." He noted and I wasn't the least bit surprised. "You found something you didn't like, huh?" I nodded and he tilted his head to the side, clearly trying to work something out. "What area did you get?"

"Kidnappings." I whispered and he appeared confused. Maybe he had thought that I'd gotten murders and was upset by something I might have found on the internet. Maybe he thought there was something about my mother that I'd found. Nope. There was something about _him_. "I found something that um . . ."

"What did you find?"

"You." I whispered and he moved back from me. I bit my lip as his eyes went hard. He was pissed. "Before you say anything, I just googled kidnappings in the area in the last ten years and read through some of them."

"Really?" He sounded sarcastic and I nodded. He turned and grabbed his laptop that was behind him, placing it on the table in front of us and opening a new web page. "Prove it." I took a deep breath before typing in 'Kidnappings in the Olympic Peninsula over the last 10 years' and praying that it came up with the page I'd found on him. When the page had loaded, I scrolled down, pretending I didn't remember which one it was before the name 'Edward Cullen' appeared. I clicked on the link, thanking whatever power there was out there that decided to have mercy on me today and stepped back, watching as it loaded the page I'd been looking at earlier.

I motioned for Edward to read the page and he looked at me sceptically before turning his eyes to what was on the screen in front of him.

"If you scroll down, there's a picture." I said softly and he did, leaning back in his chair as the face of a fifteen year old version of himself came into view. "You hinted that you didn't know who you were right?"

"I didn't." He said softly, not tearing his eyes away from the screen. "I still don't."

"Well, you have a clue now." I leaned on the island next to him as he stared at the screen in front of him. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know." He said and I could tell he was being honest. He looked up at me, his golden eyes filled with something I'd not seen before. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I said honestly. Although I'd originally wanted to dig up dirt on Edward to give to my father to maybe get rid of him or something like that, I hadn't ever expected to discover that he had been kidnapped at fifteen years old. Clearly he didn't remember who he had been back then but maybe I'd given him enough to help him find out. "Hey," I said softly and he looked at me. "Here you have green eyes. I knew they were contacts."

"I don't wear contacts, Bella." He ran his hands through his hair and I looked at him, confused.

"Bella?" I asked and he nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. "I've earned Bella?"

"I think you have, yes."

"So, you gonna tell me about the eyes?" I asked and he shook his head, his expression telling me to leave it. Maybe I should today. Who knew what kind of mood he was in now. Hopefully it was a good-ish one. "Okay." I moved away from him, starting dinner. "You hungry?" He was still staring at the picture on the screen in front of him and I walked back over, placing a hand on his shoulder. He had been telling the truth when he said that he didn't know who he was. "Hey," he looked up at me again, seeming confused. "You hungry?"

"Oh, um, yeah, I guess." He nodded, pulling out his cell phone. He quickly tapped out a text message and held the phone to his mouth, his eyes glued to the screen. I decided to keep it simple tonight with just pasta and meatballs. Normally, I would have made the meatballs myself but tonight I would be using the frozen ones Charlie insisted on buying. Though normally we threw them out so I had to idea why he did. "Hey, um, I had an idea."

"Oh?" He looked away from the screen and up at me. "And what was that?"

"Okay, you have to hear me out before you say anything, okay?" He nodded slowly, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "It's nothing bad, don't worry. It's not like I'm asking you to go cliff diving or anything." He chuckled, shaking his head and I wondered if he'd ever thought about doing something like that. Though with his reflexes I don't think it would have had much of an impact. "I was thinking that tomorrow, instead of me going to school, ah!" I held up a finger as he opened his mouth to argue. "You said you'd let me finish."

"That I did." He gestured, a less than pleased expression on his face. "Please continue with the idea that has you skipping out on your education."

"As I said, instead of me going to school, maybe the two of us could head into Forks and try and find your family." Something clouded his eyes at this point and I wondered what emotions were running through him. I knew that it had to be a strange feeling, having lost so many years with his family and now he had a chance to get them back. "I know what you're going to say. You don't want to get me into trouble and it's your business, blah de blah de blah but . . . if you think about it, if I were to speak to your family first, maybe it could kind of . . . soften the blow. Prepare them for seeing you again."

"Why would you do that?" He asked, his voice guarded and quiet.

"Because I lost my mom," I said softly, looking down at my hands on the table. "And I don't have a chance of getting her back. You lost your family, it might not be in the same way but you lost them all the same. And they lost you too. With my mom, we knew what happened to her but for your family, they still don't have a clue and that was nearly eight years ago. They haven't had any closure and are probably still wondering if you're alive or if you died all those years ago."

"But why would you go and speak to them for me?" He still didn't trust me with this and I didn't blame him. I had done nothing to earn his trust thus far. I had been moody and bitchy, I had gone against what he had asked me to a lot of times. I'd been disrespectful and cold. Normally, those actions would have driven someone away – and it did seventeen times – but Edward stayed. For some reason he believed in me enough to stick around. Either that or my dad was paying him more than I thought he was.

"Imagine the shock if you just turn up on their doorstep. I think it would cause someone to have a heart attack. Maybe having someone there to give them an idea of their child's whereabouts would be easier on them. And also . . ." I bit my lip, not quite sure how to phrase the next part of my concerns.

"Also, what?"

"I would be able to warn them about the amnesia." I said softly and he blinked, looking away from me. As unfathomable as it was, it appeared that I had just taken Edward Masen – or Cullen – off guard. "That's going to be hard for them. I mean, they find out you're alive and living in Seattle but you don't actually remember who they are. I might be able to prepare them for that."

He nodded, seeming to accept my reasoning, which was something I hadn't ever expected.

"Alright." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Okay."

He gave me a small smile I couldn't help but return. It was as though something had passed between the two of us. Something that held me there indefinitely.

Or at least until the water started boiling over.

. . . . . . . .

"Are you sure about this?" He asked again as we passed the 'Welcome to Forks' sign telling us the population was a little over three thousand. Tiny fucking place this is.

"Yeah." I nodded, smiling at him before my stomach grumbled loudly. "Anywhere we can eat?" I asked and he smirked, shaking his head. He slowed, turning into a parking lot of a small diner. It didn't seem like the most up market place to eat but hey, when in a small town, you've got to eat like the locals do, right?

Edward made his way into the diner and everyone stopped talking as we walked in. He held the door open for me as I passed him and I couldn't help but feel like I was on display. We sat down at a table in the corner of the room. Edward sat so that he could see everyone in the room, no doubt keeping an eye on everything. I sat next to him, carefully watching the people around.

"Do you think that anyone here will recognise you?" I asked quietly and he shrugged.

"I don't know." He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't recognise any of them, so how should I know."

"Hi," we both looked up to see a girl standing there, smiling at the two of us. She was darker skinned and I wondered if she lived on the Reservation I'd heard about that was just a few miles down the road. "Are you ready to order?"

"Um," I picked up a menu as Edward just ordered a coke. "I'll have the garden burger, please. And another coke."

"Coming right up." She glanced at Edward once more and I wasn't sure what to make of that. Was she just checking him out as I'd seen so many people do even in the short time I'd known him, or did she recognise him from before he was taken.

"Anything?" I asked and he shook his head. It was strange to see him like this. Normally, he was so calm and collected. Seeing him unsure and slightly out of shape was a little daunting. I would hate to see him completely freaking out.

Our food was with us in record time and again the girl glanced at Edward, her brow crinkling before she turned to serve the other patrons. I noticed a couple of them looking at Edward for a little longer than I was sure he was comfortable with.

"I think people might be recognising you." I said softly and he nodded, slowly. He hadn't said much and I knew it was frustrating for him to know that there was a good chance he had been here before when he was younger, but not having any memory of the place had to be taking a toll on him. I couldn't imagine it myself.

"I'm sorry to ask," the girl stopped as she came by to collect our plates and give us the check, "but do I know you?" The question was directed at Edward and I knew he'd been recognised.

He didn't seem to be phased though as he gave her a smile. "I don't think so."

"I'm sorry," she laughed nervously. "It's just, you look a lot like someone I used to know."

After paying, we made our way back out to the car and he sighed as he closed his door. "You okay?" I asked and he nodded, staring off into space. "Are _you_ sure about this?" I asked, repeating his question from earlier.

"Yeah," He smiled slightly and I wondered what was going through his head. "We've come this far and we've got the address for these people. Might as well see it through."

"These 'people' are your family, Edward." I said softly and he looked at me before nodding gently. "And with any luck, you'll get them back."

It didn't take us long to find the driveway up to the Cullen household. I will say though, if I had been driving, I would have missed it completely and gone all the way up the street without realising it. Edward though, with his stupidly insane eye-sight and reflexes managed to see the turnoff and manoeuvre his way up it without any problems at all. Maybe his subconscious remembered things that his conscious didn't. I remembered that from science class once.

Yes, I pay attention!

Sometimes.

We stopped in front of the enormous white house and noticed there was a bright, cherry red BMW convertible sat outside. I unstrapped myself and looked at Edward once more.

"Anything?" I asked and he shook his head, gazing up at the house. I'd heard that being in a familiar environment could have an effect on amnesia. Apparently it could help bring back buried memories. "I won't be long. I don't think, anyway." I gave him a small smile before I climbed out of the car.

I was slightly freaked as I walked up the steps to the house. Not at the size of it or anything, because my house was bigger, but purely because I could be walking up the steps belonging to the house of Edward's family. Oh my God, was I about to meet his mother? Well, it wasn't like I was his girlfriend meeting the parents for the first time.

It was still scary as hell, though.

I rang the doorbell, holding my breath as I heard someone approaching the other side of the door. When it flung open, I jumped in surprise as I saw the biggest man standing there that I had ever seen before.

"Uh, hi." I squeaked out and he grinned at me.

"Emmy, who's there?" I heard a woman call from inside the house as an absolutely stunning blonde woman walked up to stand beside him. I recognised her from the pictures on the internet as Edward's brother. Jeez, everyone in his family was frickin' beautiful. "Hi, can we help you?"

"Um, Rosalie?" I asked and she nodded, raising an eyebrow. "I have to talk to you?"

"Well, actually from what I can see, you need to be in school." She replied in a superior tone, moving to close the door. "So why don't you head back there and you won't get in trouble for skipping, hmm?"

"It's about your brother." I said quickly and she turned to look at me sharply.

"What do you know about my brother?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest, accentuating what was already there. _Alright, you're blessed, no need to rub it in._ "Who are you?"

"Someone who might have some answers." I said quietly. "Please. I need to speak with you about it. It will only take a few minutes. Please."

"Baby," the enormous guy turned to look at her, rubbing his hands up and down her arms lovingly. She looked up him, her eyes wide and imploring and she didn't look as frightening as she did just a minute ago. "What if she does know something?"

"And what if she's just someone looking for a story?" She replied quietly and I bristled at that thought. I guess I could understand how it looked. Some stranger turning up out of the blue claiming to know something about your long missing brother. Looks a little strange, I'll admit.

"I don't think so, honey." He whispered something in her ear that I couldn't quite catch and she turned to look at me.

"Alright." She sighed, moving away to let me inside. "You got five minutes. Less if I think you're chatting shit. We've had enough people traipsing through here claiming to know something about Edward and it turns out to be a load of shit." She led me through to the extravagant living room. I stopped in front of the fireplace, noticing a picture of Edward that looked to be a school portrait. "The last one before he was taken." I heard her sigh behind me. "Mom and Dad still haven't given up. They think he's still alive."

"What about you?" I asked as I sat down across from her. "What do you believe?"

"I don't know?" She sighed, looking away from me. I noticed that the big guy hadn't followed us in here. "He won't bother us. He knows it's touchy. So . . . what is it that's so important to tell me."

"I know where Edward is." She gave me a doubtful look and I nodded, opening my bag. I pulled out a folder I'd brought with me and handed it to her. Edward had told me that it was okay for me to find frames of him from the CCTV at the house and to take some photographs of him so they would know I wasn't dicking them around. His words, not mine.

She looked confused as she opened the folder before gasping when she saw his picture staring at her from inside. The time stamp on it was from this morning and she looked up at me wide-eyed. I nodded for her to keep going and she flicked through them, seeing the pictures and their time stamps. Some of them were grainy in black and white, but it was clearly him.

She closed the folder, holding it close to her chest as she closed her eyes. Her bright blue eyes were gleaming with unshed tears as she looked at me. "How?"

"He's my bodyguard." I said quietly and she let out a laugh.

"Bodyguard?" She sniffed, shaking her head. "Edward never was one for violence. I doubt he'd be much of a bodyguard."

"Well, he's better than any of the others I've had." She raised an eyebrow at me and I waved her off. "Another time. What's important here is, that is your brother, yes?" She closed her eyes, nodding gently. "He's alive and he's healthy and he misses you."

"So why didn't he come back?" She shot back, her eyes appearing slightly angry. "If he missed us so much why didn't he come back? It's been nearly eight years. We've never left in case he was still alive and he didn't come back. If he missed us, why didn't he come back?"

"Why didn't who come back?" I looked up to see two people I knew to be Edward's parents standing in front of me, looking slightly shellshocked. If they were here, that meant that they had walked within feet of their son without realising it. That made me feel slightly guilty.

"Mom," Rose whispered, standing up. "This is . . . I'm sorry, I forgot to ask your name."

"Bella. Bella Swan." I gave them a small wave. "Hi, Mr and Mrs Cullen."

"Right, well, we all know each other now and I have to ask you what you're doing here and why is Rosalie upset about someone not coming back?" I think that part of Mrs Cullen knew who we were talking about but she didn't really want to believe it.

"Mom, Dad, sit down." Rosalie asked in a pleading voice. The two of them looked at each other and did as she asked before she gave them the folder. They opened it and had exactly the same reaction as Rosalie. Mrs Cullen looked at me wide-eyed and I nodded, before she started flicking through the pictures.

"My baby." She whispered, running her fingers gently over one of the photographs I'd taken this morning. "Wait. This date. This was taken this morning." She looked up at me and I nodded.

"Edward's my bodyguard." I said softly and she laughed gently. Rosalie laughed as well, letting out a soft 'I know, right' as they looked at the pictures of their missing family member. "Apparently Edward wasn't much of a fighter before he . . . left . . . but I can assure you, he's good at his job."

"Where is he now?" Mrs Cullen asked and I bit my lip.

"He's in Seattle." I lied. It was the story we'd come up with. I was to say that he was in Seattle and I'd snuck out, my driver bringing me here without his knowledge. "He doesn't know I'm here. My driver is the only one who knows. I tell you I'm going to be in trouble when he gets to my school and finds I'm not there."

"You said he missed us." Rosalie asked and I nodded. "Then why didn't he try to find us. He knew where to start. He could have traced us from there."

I shook my head, sadly. Now was where I was going to break their hearts. "He didn't know." I whispered and they all looked at me, confused. "I'm sorry. He doesn't remember."

"What?" Mr Cullen spoke for the first time, sounding alarmed. "He doesn't remember what?"

"You." I whispered and they all looked devastated. "He doesn't remember anything before he was . . . taken. When I said he missed you, I meant he missed the thought of having a family. He hates having the knowledge that he might have a family out there and not knowing where they are and who they might be."

"If he doesn't know who we are, if he doesn't remember us, how did _you_ know who we are? Where to find us?" Rose didn't sound suspicious, only curious and confused.

"I was doing a project for school. Social studies and all that that they make you do. It focuses on crime in Washington over the last ten years. Statistics and all of that. And we were each given a random topic to research. I happened to get . . . kidnappings. I just searched it and had read through about a hundred different pages of numbers and statistics when I found the page about Edward. I just thought that it was someone random from years ago. I had no idea that it was the man sat downstairs in my kitchen."

"Have you told him?" Mrs Cullen asked and I shook my head.

"Not yet." I sighed, hating lying to them about it. "I wanted to make sure it was really you before I told him. I mean, getting his hopes up and yours only to find that you're not the right family. I'd hate to hurt any of you like that."

"You said he's in Seattle." I nodded and Mrs Cullen stood up. "Well, let's go."

"Are you sure?" I asked, wondering what to do about that. If they saw Edward getting out of the car or something like that, I was screwed. "I mean, it's a four hour drive there and back. Also, it might be better if I warned him you're coming. You know, so it's not a huge shock to have you turn up. You've got to remember, he _doesn't_ remember who you are, so if you just stood there, he wouldn't know any of you from Adam."

"Mom, she's right." Rosalie said quietly. "I know it's hard, but maybe she's right. We can't just throw ourselves on him, he's not going to know which way is up. Maybe giving Bella some time to talk to him, make sure that he realises what's happened here, it might go better. I don't know about you but having my brother not know who I am is going to be harder than I thought without having it thrown in my face as soon as we walk in the door."

The two of them nodded, realising that pouncing on Edward when he was unawares wasn't the best idea. Apart from the fact he was sat in the car not twenty feet from the house and if I'd learned anything about Edward, he could hear everything that had been said. I didn't let on then.

"So . . . tomorrow?" She looked at me with hopeful eyes and I nodded. I handed her a slip of paper with my cell number on it and she smiled. "Thank you, Bella." She whispered, wrapping her arms around me. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." I said softly. "I kind of have to go. I'm going to be in trouble as it is and the later I am the more . . . aggravated he's going to be." They nodded, saying that they would call me when they were on their way tomorrow.

I made my way back out to the car, flopping down into the seat before I looked at Edward. I knew from the look on his face he _had_ heard everything that had been said. If only I knew how.

"You okay?" I asked quietly and he sighed, rubbing his eyes with the ends of his fingers.

"I don't know." He sounded weary as though he hadn't had a decent rest in weeks. Maybe he hadn't. "Apparently, I wasn't much of a fighter."

"Apparently not." I laughed gently and he smiled. "But they miss you and still love you."

He nodded slowly, looking out of the window at the house. "Thank you."

"No problem." I smiled at him. "So, tomorrow?" He nodded, his eyes still glued to the house in front of us. "You ready?"

"Not a chance but that doesn't matter. They're my family." I nodded, glancing up at the house.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry again and I'm going to be starving by the time we get back to Seattle." He snorted in a very ungentlemanly fashion at my words. "Come on. Let's go home."

He looked at me and smiled before nodding and turning the engine of the car on before backing down the driveway to a spot where he could turn around.

"They're lovely people." I said softly and he nodded, a small smile lingering on his lips. "And they love you." He let out a breath that seemed almost serene. "You're very lucky."

"I know."

I was glad that he knew how lucky he had just become. He had his family back. That was something that most people who'd lost a loved one would wish for and never receive.

I knew I did.

Well, I figure, if I couldn't have my mom back, why not help Edward have his?

I think he's missed her more than he lets on because let's face it, everybody needs their mama.

I know I do.


	7. TWCS

**_As I'm sure you're all aware FF is deleting stories like crazy and as you all know, I deal with various sensitive subjects within mine so I have a feeling that it's only a matter of time before mine fall victim to the cut._**

**_I'll be posting all of my stories on The Writer's Coffee Shop so if you create an account over there, you can read them all._**

**_I'll be continuing to post updates on here until there comes a time when FF decides it doesn't like me anymore and then they'll still be updated over at TWCS._**

**_I'll be rewriting 'Saving Edward', 'Alive Again' and 'Protecting Him' because I feel like my writing has changed in the three years I've been posting on here so keep an eye out._**

**_This chapter will be replaced with an actual update soon._**

**_See you over there!_**


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